Infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus (HPAIV) H5N8 in harbor seals at the German North Sea coast, 2021

Alexander Postel; Jacqueline King; Franziska K Kaiser; Johanna Kennedy; Mara Sophie Lombardo; Wencke Reineking; Madeleine de le Roi; Timm Harder; Anne Pohlmann; Thomas Gerlach; Guus Rimmelzwaan; Simon Rohner; Lotte C Striewe; Stephanie Gross; Luca A Schick; Jana C Klink; Katharina Kramer; Albert D M E Osterhaus; Martin Beer; Wolfgang Baumgärtner; Ursula Siebert; Paul Becher

doi:10.1080/22221751.2022.2043726

Infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus (HPAIV) H5N8 in harbor seals at the German North Sea coast, 2021

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2022 Dec;11(1):725-729. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2022.2043726.

Authors

Alexander Postel¹, Jacqueline King², Franziska K Kaiser³, Johanna Kennedy¹, Mara Sophie Lombardo⁴, Wencke Reineking⁴, Madeleine de le Roi⁴, Timm Harder², Anne Pohlmann², Thomas Gerlach³, Guus Rimmelzwaan³, Simon Rohner⁵, Lotte C Striewe⁵, Stephanie Gross⁵, Luca A Schick⁵, Jana C Klink⁵, Katharina Kramer⁶, Albert D M E Osterhaus³, Martin Beer², Wolfgang Baumgärtner⁴, Ursula Siebert⁵, Paul Becher¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.
² Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Greifswald, Germany.
³ Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.
⁵ Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.
⁶ Landeslabor Schleswig- Holstein, Neumünster, Germany.

Abstract

In brain tissue of three harbor seals of the German North Sea coast, high virus loads of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N8 were detected. Identification of different virus variants indicates high exposure to HPAIV circulating in wild birds, but there is no evidence for H5 specific antibodies in healthy seals. Replication of avian viruses in seals may allow HPAIV to acquire mutations needed to adapt to mammalian hosts as shown by PB2 627K variants detected in these cases.

Keywords: H5N8; HPAIV; Influenza virus; avian; brain; lung; mammal; seal.

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

Animals
Influenza A Virus, H5N8 Subtype* / genetics
Influenza A virus* / genetics
Influenza in Birds* / epidemiology
North Sea
Phoca*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) [398066876/GRK 2485/1], the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within project “PREPMEDVET” [grant number 13N15449], the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in the framework of the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, and the EU Horizon 2020 program grant agreements “VEO” no. 874735 and “DELTA-FLU” no. 727922. The Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization (MELUND) as well as the Schleswig-Holstein Agency for Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation (LKN.SH) funded the marine mammal stranding scheme, the health assessment of life and dead harbor seals. This Open Access publication was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) within the programme LE 824/10-1 “Open Access Publication Costs” and University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation.