Emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A Virus (H5N1) of Clade 2.3.4.4b in Egypt, 2021-2022

Zienab Mosaad; Mohamed H Elhusseiny; Ali Zanaty; Mustafa M Fathy; Naglaa M Hagag; Wesam H Mady; Dalia Said; Moataz M Elsayed; Ahmed M Erfan; Neveen Rabie; Abdelhafez Samir; Mohamed Samy; Abdel-Satar Arafa; Abdullah Selim; Ali M Abdelhakim; Johanna F Lindahl; Samah Eid; Åke Lundkvist; Momtaz A Shahein; Mahmoud M Naguib

doi:10.3390/pathogens12010090

Emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A Virus (H5N1) of Clade 2.3.4.4b in Egypt, 2021-2022

Pathogens. 2023 Jan 5;12(1):90. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12010090.

Authors

Zienab Mosaad¹, Mohamed H Elhusseiny¹, Ali Zanaty¹, Mustafa M Fathy², Naglaa M Hagag¹, Wesam H Mady¹, Dalia Said¹, Moataz M Elsayed¹, Ahmed M Erfan¹, Neveen Rabie¹, Abdelhafez Samir¹, Mohamed Samy¹, Abdel-Satar Arafa¹, Abdullah Selim¹, Ali M Abdelhakim³, Johanna F Lindahl⁴, Samah Eid¹, Åke Lundkvist⁴, Momtaz A Shahein¹, Mahmoud M Naguib^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Reference Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production, Animal Health Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Giza 12618, Egypt.
² Animal Health Research Institute-Mansour Branch, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Dakahlia 35511, Egypt.
³ General Organization for Veterinary Services, Giza 12618, Egypt.
⁴ Zoonosis Science Center, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, 75121 Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

Wild migratory birds have the capability to spread avian influenza virus (AIV) over long distances as well as transmit the virus to domestic birds. In this study, swab and tissue samples were obtained from 190 migratory birds during close surveillance in Egypt in response to the recent outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus. The collected samples were tested for a variety of AIV subtypes (H5N1, H9N2, H5N8, and H6N2) as well as other pathogens such as NDV, IBV, ILT, IBDV, and WNV. Among all of the tested samples, the HPAI H5N1 virus was found in six samples; the other samples were found to be negative for all of the tested pathogens. The Egyptian HPAI H5N1 strains shared genetic traits with the HPAI H5N1 strains that are currently being reported in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa in 2021-2022. Whole genome sequencing revealed markers associated with mammalian adaption and virulence traits among different gene segments, similar to those found in HPAI H5N1 strains detected in Europe and Africa. The detection of the HPAI H5N1 strain of clade 2.3.4.4b in wild birds in Egypt underlines the risk of the introduction of this strain into the local poultry population. Hence, there is reason to be vigilant and continue epidemiological and molecular monitoring of the AIV in close proximity to the domestic-wild bird interface.

Keywords: Egypt; H5N1; HPAI; avian influenza; clade 2.3.4.4b; wild migratory birds.

Grants and funding

The work was funded in part by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture-Egypt and FAO Egypt. This work was partially supported by the Swedish Research Council VR network grant number 2021-05584, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research innovation program (Grant no. 874735 (VEO)), and the SciLifeLab Pandemic Preparedness projects (LPP1-007). M.M.N. is supported by Carl Trygger Stiftelse (grant number CTS 21:1618), Clas Groschinsky (grant number M2250), and Åke Wibergs stiftelse (grant number M22-0074).