Molecular Epidemiology, Evolution, and Transmission of Avian Influenza Viruses

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 3569

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstraße 1a, 1160 Vienna, Austria
Interests: avian influenza ecology, surveillance, immunopathogenesis; virology; microbiology; eco-immunology; one-health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Avian influenza viruses, with the panzootic events of the highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIs) (2000–2004), have become one of the most critical challenges for domestic poultry and wildlife conservation in terms of affected geographic areas and the number of infected species. The current panzootic is very special because of the high detection levels of HAPIVs in wild birds and even healthy animals; high mortality and economic loss in the poultry industry; the transmission of viruses to marine mammals, such as harbor seals, elephant seals, and sea lions, causing high mortality among them; the transmission of these viruses to seabirds especially gull species in Asia and Europe, causing several high-mortality outbreaks; their potential risks for biodiversity and sporadic infections in mammalian species such as lions, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and humans; the continuous evolution of the avian influenza viruses with high potential to change the preferential binding of the viruses from avian‐like receptors to mammalian-like receptors, increasing their zoonotic potential; change in the dynamics of HPAIVs to increase their range of hosts and pathogenicity; and their capacity to evolve as human pandemic pathogens.

Unfortunately, scientific publications about the current panzootic and the infectious HAPIVs are quite scattered; therefore, the Editors of this Special Issue invite all scientists, influenza experts, epidemiologists, and outbreak investigators to submit their manuscripts regarding molecular epidemiology, phylogeny, evolution, receptor binding affinity and antigenic cartography, intra- and cross-species transmission, and reports of outbreaks of avian influenza viruses with special emphasis on recent outbreaks and the current HPAI panzootic.

Prof. Dr. Sasan Fereidouni
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • avian influenza viruses
  • highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIs)
  • molecular epidemiology
  • phylogeny
  • evolution
  • intra- and cross-species transmission

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3745 KiB  
Article
Genotypic Clustering of H5N1 Avian Influenza Viruses in North America Evaluated by Ordination Analysis
by Patil Tawidian, Mia K. Torchetti, Mary L. Killian, Kristina Lantz, Krista E. Dilione, Jourdan M. Ringenberg, Sarah N. Bevins, Julianna B. Lenoch and Hon S. Ip
Viruses 2024, 16(12), 1818; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16121818 - 22 Nov 2024
Abstract
The introduction of HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b viruses to North America in late 2021 resulted in avian influenza outbreaks in poultry, mortality events in many wild bird species, and spillovers into many mammalian species. Reassortment events with North American low-pathogenic virus were identified [...] Read more.
The introduction of HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b viruses to North America in late 2021 resulted in avian influenza outbreaks in poultry, mortality events in many wild bird species, and spillovers into many mammalian species. Reassortment events with North American low-pathogenic virus were identified as early as February 2022 and over 100 genotypes have been characterized. Such diversity increases the complexity and time required for monitoring virus evolution. Here, we performed ordination and clustering analyses on sequence data from H5N1 viruses identified in North America between January 2020 and December 2023 to visualize the genotypic diversity of viruses in poultry and wildlife populations. Our results reveal that ordination- and cluster-based approaches can complement traditional phylogenetic analyses specifically for the preliminary assignment of H5N1 viruses to genotypic groups or to identify novel genotypes. Our study expands current knowledge on the genotypic diversity of H5N1 viruses in North America and describes a rapid approach for early virus genotype assignment. Full article
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11 pages, 5907 KiB  
Article
Mass Mortality in Terns and Gulls Associated with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses in Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan
by Aidyn Kydyrmanov, Kobey Karamendin, Yermukhammet Kassymbekov, Klara Daulbayeva, Temirlan Sabyrzhan, Yelizaveta Khan, Sardor Nuralibekov, Barshagul Baikara and Sasan Fereidouni
Viruses 2024, 16(11), 1661; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16111661 - 24 Oct 2024
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Abstract
Mass mortality in Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia), Pallas’s gulls (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus), and Caspian gulls (Larus cachinnans) was recorded on the northeastern shores of the Caspian Sea in June 2022. More than 5000 gulls and terns died due [...] Read more.
Mass mortality in Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia), Pallas’s gulls (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus), and Caspian gulls (Larus cachinnans) was recorded on the northeastern shores of the Caspian Sea in June 2022. More than 5000 gulls and terns died due to the outbreak. The outbreak was investigated in the field, and representative numbers of samples were collected and analyzed using pathological, virological, and molecular methods. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses were detected and isolated from samples collected from dead birds. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the hemagglutinin (HA) genes belonged to the clade 2.3.4.4.b of the H5Nx HPAI viruses, B2 sub-lineage, and were closely related to the highly pathogenic influenza viruses, caused an outbreak in wild birds with a high mortality rate in the western part of the Caspian Sea. Full article
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14 pages, 5516 KiB  
Article
Complex Evolutionary Dynamics of H5N8 Influenza A Viruses Revealed by Comprehensive Reassortment Analysis
by Egor Degtyarev, Sofia Feoktistova, Pavel Volchkov and Andrey Deviatkin
Viruses 2024, 16(9), 1405; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16091405 - 3 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1295
Abstract
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) circulate among different species and have the potential to cause significant pandemics in humans. This study focuses on reassortment events in the H5N8 subtype of IAV, which poses a serious threat to public health due to its high pathogenicity [...] Read more.
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) circulate among different species and have the potential to cause significant pandemics in humans. This study focuses on reassortment events in the H5N8 subtype of IAV, which poses a serious threat to public health due to its high pathogenicity in birds and potential for cross-species transmission. We retrieved 2359 H5N8 IAV sequences from GISAID, and filtered and analyzed 442 complete genomic sequences for reassortment events using pairwise distance deviation matrices (PDDMs) and pairwise distance correspondence plots (PDCPs). This detailed case study of specific H5N8 viruses revealed previously undescribed reassortment events, highlighting the complex evolutionary history and potential pandemic threat of H5N8 IAVs. Full article
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