Key Laboratory of Jilin Province for Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chang'chun, People's Republic of China.
Poultry Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ji'nan, People's Republic of China.
Emerg Microbes Infect. 2023 Dec;12(1):e2184177. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2184177.
Wild aquatic birds are the primary hosts of H13 avian influenza viruses (AIVs). Herein, we performed a genetic analysis of two H13 AIVs isolated from wild birds in China and evaluated their infection potential in poultry to further explore the potential for transmission from wild aquatic birds to poultry. Our results showed that the two strains belong to different groups, one strain (A/mallard/Dalian/DZ-137/2013; abbreviated as DZ137) belongs to Group I, whereas the other strain (A/Eurasian Curlew/Liaoning/ZH-385/2014; abbreviated as ZH385) belongs to Group III. In vitro experiments showed that both DZ137 and ZH385 can replicate efficiently in chicken embryo fibroblast cells. We found that these H13 AIVs can also efficiently replicate in mammalian cell lines, including human embryonic kidney cells and Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. In vivo experiments showed that DZ137 and ZH385 can infect 1-day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens, and that ZH385 has a higher replication ability in chickens than DZ137. Notably, only ZH385 can replicate efficiently in 10-day-old SPF chickens. However, neither DZ137 nor ZH385 can replicate well in turkeys and quails. Both DZ137 and ZH385 can replicate in 3-week-old mice. Serological surveillance of poultry showed a 4.6%-10.4% (15/328-34/328) antibody-positive rate against H13 AIVs in farm chickens. Our findings indicate that H13 AIVs have the replication ability in chickens and mice and may have a risk of crossing the host barrier from wild aquatic birds to poultry or mammals in the future.
野生水鸟是 H13 禽流感病毒（AIV）的主要宿主。在此，我们对从中国野生鸟类中分离到的两种 H13 AIV 进行了遗传分析，并评估了它们在禽类中的感染潜力，以进一步探索从野生水鸟向禽类传播的可能性。我们的结果表明，这两种毒株属于不同的群组，其中一株（A/mallard/Dalian/DZ-137/2013，简称 DZ137）属于群组 I，而另一株（A/Eurasian Curlew/Liaoning/ZH-385/2014，简称 ZH385）属于群组 III。体外实验表明，DZ137 和 ZH385 均可在鸡胚成纤维细胞中高效复制。我们发现，这些 H13 AIV 也可以在哺乳动物细胞系（包括人胚肾细胞和 Madin-Darby 犬肾细胞）中高效复制。体内实验表明，DZ137 和 ZH385 均可感染 1 日龄 SPF 鸡，且 ZH385 在鸡体内的复制能力强于 DZ137。值得注意的是，只有 ZH385 可在 10 日龄 SPF 鸡中高效复制。然而，DZ137 和 ZH385 均不能在火鸡和鹌鹑中良好复制。DZ137 和 ZH385 均可在 3 周龄小鼠中复制。对家禽的血清学监测显示，农场鸡中针对 H13 AIV 的抗体阳性率为 4.6%-10.4%（15/328-34/328）。我们的研究结果表明，H13 AIV 具有在鸡和小鼠中复制的能力，并且未来可能有跨越宿主屏障从野生水鸟传播到家禽或哺乳动物的风险。
