Open AccessEpidemiological, clinical, and virologic features of two family clusters of avian influenza A (H7N9) virus infections in Southeast China
Author(s) -
Jianfeng Xie,
Yue Weng,
Jianming Ou,
Lin Zhao,
Yanhua Zhang,
Jinzhang Wang,
Wei Chen,
Meng Huang,
Wen-Qiong Xiu,
Hongbin Chen,
Yongjun Zhang,
Binshan Wu,
Wenxiang He,
Ying Zhu,
Libin You,
Zhimiao Huang,
Canming Zhang,
Longtao Hong,
Wei Wang,
Kuicheng Zheng
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-01761-w
Subject(s) - epidemiology , virus , virology , influenza a virus subtype h5n1 , hemagglutinin (influenza) , biology , pandemic , cluster (spacecraft) , influenza a virus , molecular epidemiology , medicine , gene , disease , genetics , genotype , infectious disease (medical specialty) , covid-19 , computer science , programming language
This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological, clinical, and virologic characteristics of avian influenza A (H7N9) confirmed cases from two family clusters in Southeast China. Epidemiological data of the H7N9 confirmed cases and their close contacts were obtained through interviews and reviews of medical records. Of the four patients in these two family clusters, two cases had mild symptoms, one had severe symptoms, and one died. Three of the four patients had a history of exposure to live poultry or contaminated environments. The complete genome sequences of the H7N9 viruses from the same family cluster were highly homologous, and the four isolated viruses from the two family clusters exhibited the virologic features of the H7N9 virus, in terms of transmissibility, pathogenicity, host adaptation, and antiviral drug resistance. In addition, our findings indicated that the A/Fujian/18/2015 viral strain contained an additional hemagglutinin G225D substitution, which preferentially binds α2,6-linked sialic acids. The results of this study demonstrate that one family cluster was infected through common exposure to live poultry or contaminated environments, and the other was more likely to be infected through the human-to-human route.