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. 2024 Dec;13(1):2396874.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2396874. Epub 2024 Aug 30.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b in wild rats in Egypt during 2023

Omnia Kutkat  1 , Mokhtar Gomaa  1 , Yassmin Moatasim  1 , Ahmed El Taweel  1 , Mina Nabil Kamel  1 , Mohamed El Sayes  1 , Mohamed GabAllah  1 , Ahmed Kandeil  1   2 , Pamela P McKenzie  2 , Richard J Webby  2 , Ghazi Kayali  3 , Mohamed Ahmed Ali  1 , Rabeh El-Shesheny  1
Affiliations

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b in wild rats in Egypt during 2023

Omnia Kutkat et al. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

We detected highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in wild rats collected from a rural area in Giza, Egypt, near poultry farms, markets, and backyard flocks. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the virus from the rats belonged to clade 2.3.4.4b, which has been the predominant virus genotype circulating in Egypt and worldwide since 2021-2022. Active surveillance of avian influenza viruses in wild and domestic mammals is recommended to prevent further spread to mammals and humans.

Keywords: HPAI; Influenza; egypt; rat; surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Phylogenetic tree of the (A) HA segment and (B) NA segment obtained from this study. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the neighbour-joining algorithm with the Kimura two-parameter model. The reliability of phylogenetic inference at each branch node was estimated by the bootstrap method with 1000 replications. Evolutionary analyses were conducted using MEGA 7. Rat viruses isolated in this study are shown in red and Egyptian H5N1viruses clade 2.3.4.4b are shown in blue.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Phylogenetic tree of the (A) HA segment and (B) NA segment obtained from this study. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the neighbour-joining algorithm with the Kimura two-parameter model. The reliability of phylogenetic inference at each branch node was estimated by the bootstrap method with 1000 replications. Evolutionary analyses were conducted using MEGA 7. Rat viruses isolated in this study are shown in red and Egyptian H5N1viruses clade 2.3.4.4b are shown in blue.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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