Korean J Vet Res.  2012 Dec;52(4):223-230.

Genetic and biological characteristics of recent Korean isolates of avian influenza virus subtype H9N2

• Acharya MP
• Kwon HJ
• Kim IH
• Lee YJ
• Kim JH

Abstract

The worldwide distribution and continuing genetic mutation of avian influenza virus (AIV) has been posed a great threat to human and animal health. A comparison of 3 isolates of AIV H9N2, A/chicken/Korea/KBNP-0028/00 (H9N2) (KBNP-0028), A/chicken/Korea/SNU8011/08 (H9N2) (SNU 8011) and an inactivated oil vaccine strain A/chicken/Korea/01310/01 (H9N2) (01310), was performed. The former 2 AIVs were isolated from field cases before and after the application of an inactivated H9N2 vaccine in 2007, respectively. The antigenic relationship, viral shedding, tissue tropism and genetic analysis were examined. The comparison of virus shedding from the cloaca and the oropharynx revealed that both isolates were more frequently isolated from the upper respiratory tract (90~100%) 1 day post inoculation (DPI) compared with isolation 5 DPI from gastrointestinal tracts (10~60%). Moreover, the isolate KBNP-0028 were recovered from all organs including bone marrow, brain and kidneys, indicating higher ability for broad tissue dissemination than that of SNU 8011. KBNP-0028 replicated earlier than other strains and with a higher titer than SNU 8011. In full-length nucleotide sequences of the NA gene and a partial sequence of the HA gene of SNU 8011, we found that there might be significant changes in tissue tropism, virus replication and genetic mutation in AIV H9N2 isolates.

Keyword

avian influenza; highly pathogenic avian influenza; low pathogenic avian influenza; stalk deletion

MeSH Terms

Animals
Base Sequence
Bone Marrow
Brain
Cloaca
Gastrointestinal Tract
Humans
Influenza in Birds
Kidney
Oropharynx
Population Characteristics
Respiratory System
Sprains and Strains
Tropism
Virus Replication
Virus Shedding
Viruses