Establishment of an H6N2 influenza virus lineage in domestic ducks in southern China.

ABSTRACT: Multiple reassortment events between different subtypes of endemic avian influenza viruses have increased the genomic diversity of influenza viruses circulating in poultry in southern China. Gene exchange from the natural gene pool to poultry has contributed to this increase in genetic diversity. However, the role of domestic ducks as an interface between the natural gene pool and terrestrial poultry in the influenza virus ecosystem has not been fully characterized. Here we phylogenetically and antigenically analyzed 170 H6 viruses isolated from domestic ducks from 2000 to 2005 in southern China, which contains the largest population of domestic ducks in the world. Three distinct hemagglutinin lineages were identified. Group I contained the majority of isolates with a single internal gene

SUBMITTER: Huang K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2898240 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature