The Genetic Diversity of Influenza A Viruses in Wild Birds in Peru

Martha I Nelson; Simon Pollett; Bruno Ghersi; Maria Silva; Mark P Simons; Eliana Icochea; Armando E Gonzalez; Karen Segovia; Matthew R Kasper; Joel M Montgomery; Daniel G Bausch

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146059

The Genetic Diversity of Influenza A Viruses in Wild Birds in Peru

PLoS One. 2016 Jan 19;11(1):e0146059. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146059. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Martha I Nelson¹, Simon Pollett^{2

3

4}, Bruno Ghersi², Maria Silva², Mark P Simons², Eliana Icochea⁵, Armando E Gonzalez⁵, Karen Segovia², Matthew R Kasper², Joel M Montgomery², Daniel G Bausch^{2

6}

Affiliations

¹ Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
² Virology and Emerging Infections Department, United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Callao, Peru.
³ Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
⁵ Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, School of Veterinary Medicine, San Borja, Lima, Peru.
⁶ Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.

Abstract

Our understanding of the global ecology of avian influenza A viruses (AIVs) is impeded by historically low levels of viral surveillance in Latin America. Through sampling and whole-genome sequencing of 31 AIVs from wild birds in Peru, we identified 10 HA subtypes (H1-H4, H6-H7, H10-H13) and 8 NA subtypes (N1-N3, N5-N9). The majority of Peruvian AIVs were closely related to AIVs found in North America. However, unusual reassortants, including a H13 virus containing a PA segment related to extremely divergent Argentinian viruses, suggest that substantial AIV diversity circulates undetected throughout South America.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Birds
Influenza A virus / classification
Influenza A virus / genetics*
Influenza in Birds / epidemiology
Influenza in Birds / virology*
Peru
Phylogeny
Polymorphism, Genetic*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Global Emerging Infections Surveillance (GEIS) Work unit no.: 847705 82000 25GB B0016. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.