Phylogeographic dynamics of influenza A(H9N2) virus crossing Egypt
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus of subtype H9N2 is the most frequently detected subtype among domestic poultry and is a public health concern because of its zoonotic potential. Due to the multiple and complex routes of LPAIV H9N2 between geographic regions, little is known about the spatial diffusion of H9N2 virus to, within, and from Egypt, where it is endemic among poultry since 2011. Using close to 800 publicly available hemagglutinin (HA) segment nucleotide sequences, associated location and temporal data, we conducted a Bayesian discrete phylogeographic analysis. Here, we reconstructed and traced the origin, spread and principal transmission routes of H9N2 across large geographical regions, in addition to the transmission between Egypt and the rest of the world and between different Egyptian governorates. Our analysis suggests that during the last few decades, H9N2 has been introduced back and forth continuously between the countries where it is endemic. Amongst these regions, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Iraq act as main distribution hubs and drive the viral migration worldwide, with bi-directional and long-distance diffusions. It is noteworthy that H9N2 was introduced once to Egypt via Israel in mid 2009, and that the descendants of the Egyptian LAIVs H9N2 were back-transmitted to Israel in 2015. Additionally, governorates in middle Egypt (Giza, Fayoum and Bani Souwaif) are major hubs in the LPAIV H9N2 transmission network in Egypt. This knowledge highlights that H9N2 is both a global and a national concern and can aid in updating the surveillance program and vaccine strain selection.
Date Issued
2020-03-24
Date Acceptance
2020-02-25
Citation
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020, 11, pp.1-8
ISSN
1664-302X
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Start Page
1
End Page
8
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Microbiology
Volume
11
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Li, Adel, Bohlin, Lundkvist, Olsen, Pettersson and Naguib. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Identifier
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00392/full
Subjects
0502 Environmental Science and Management
0503 Soil Sciences
0605 Microbiology
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
392
Date Publish Online
2020-03-24