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Genetic and virological characteristics of a reassortant avian influenza A H6N1 virus isolated from wild birds at a live-bird market in Egypt

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Abstract

The first detection of a human infection with avian influenza A/H6N1 virus in Taiwan in 2013 has raised concerns about this virus. During our routine surveillance of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in live-bird markets in Egypt, an H6N1 virus was isolated from a garganey duck and was characterized. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Egyptian H6N1 strain A/Garganey/Egypt/20869C/2022(H6N1) has a unique genomic constellation, with gene segments inherited from different subtypes (H5N1, H3N8, H7N3, H6N1, and H10N1) that have been detected previously in AIVs from Egypt and some Eurasian countries. We examined the replication of kinetics of this virus in different mammalian cell lines (A549, MDCK, and Vero cells) and compared its pathogenicity to that of the ancestral H6N1 virus A/Quail/HK/421/2002(H6N1). The Egyptian H6N1 virus replicated efficiently in C57BL/6 mice without prior adaptation and grew faster and reached higher titers than in A549 cells than the ancestral strain. These results show that reassortant H6 AIVs might pose a potential threat to human health and highlight the need to continue surveillance of H6 AIVs circulating in nature.

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Data availability

Sequence data from this study are publicly available in the GenBank database under the accession numbers listed in Supplementary Table S1. All other data are available upon request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Rebecca Badra and Mona Mahmoud for editing the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services (under contract 5N93021C00016).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Scientific Excellence for Influenza Viruses, National Research Centre, Giza, 12622, Egypt

    Omnia Kutkat, Mokhtar Gomaa, Yassmin Moatasim, Ahmed El Taweel, Mina Nabil Kamel, Mohamed El Sayes, Amany Elkhrsawy, Ahmed Kandeil, Mohamed Ahmed Ali & Rabeh El-Shesheny

  2. Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, 11562, Egypt

    Basma Emad Aboulhoda & Hend AbdAllah

  3. Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA

    Ahmed Kandeil, Pamela P. McKenzie & Richard J. Webby

  4. Human Link, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Ghazi Kayali

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  1. Omnia Kutkat
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  2. Mokhtar Gomaa
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  3. Basma Emad Aboulhoda
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Contributions

Conceptualization: A.K., P.P.M., R.J.W., M.A.A., G.K., and R.E. Methodology: AK and RE. Formal analysis: A.K. and R.E. Investigation: O.K., M.G., B.E.A., Y.M., A.E.T., M.N.K., M.E.S., A.E., H.A., and B.E.A. Writing—original draft preparation: A.K. and R.E. Writing—review and editing: G.K. and R.E. Supervision: A.K., M.A.A., G.K., and R.E. Project administration: R.E. Funding acquisition: R.J.W., M.A.A., and G.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ghazi Kayali or Rabeh El-Shesheny.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the National Research Centre (Egypt) (protocol number 14 155).

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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Communicated by Ayato Takada

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Kutkat, O., Gomaa, M., Aboulhoda, B.E. et al. Genetic and virological characteristics of a reassortant avian influenza A H6N1 virus isolated from wild birds at a live-bird market in Egypt. Arch Virol 169, 95 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-024-06022-6

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