Evolutionary dynamics and emergence of panzootic H5N1 influenza viruses.

ABSTRACT: The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus lineage has undergone extensive genetic reassortment with viruses from different sources to produce numerous H5N1 genotypes, and also developed into multiple genetically distinct sublineages in China. From there, the virus has spread to over 60 countries. The ecological success of this virus in diverse species of both poultry and wild birds with frequent introduction to humans suggests that it is a likely source of the next human pandemic. Therefore, the evolutionary and ecological characteristics of its emergence from wild birds into poultry are of considerable interest. Here, we apply the latest analytical techniques to infer the early evolutionary dynamics of H5N1 virus in the population from which it emerged (wild birds and domest

SUBMITTER: Vijaykrishna D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2533123 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature