Avian influenza virus isolated in wild waterfowl in Argentina: evidence of a potentially unique phylogenetic lineage in South America.
Avian influenza (AI) viruses have been sporadically isolated in South America. The most recent reports are from an outbreak in commercial poultry in Chile in 2002 and its putative ancestor from a wild bird in Bolivia in 2001. Extensive surveillance in wild birds was carried out in Argentina during 2006-2007. Using RRT-PCR, 12 AI positive detections were made from cloacal swabs. One of those positive samples yielded an AI virus isolated from a wild kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) captured in the South Atlantic coastline of Argentina. Further characterization by nucleotide sequencing reveals that it belongs to the H13N9 subtype. Phylogenetic analysis of the 8 viral genes suggests that the 6 internal genes are related to the isolates from Chile and Bolivia. The analysis also indicates that a cluster of phylogenetically related AI viruses from South America may have evolved independently, with minimal gene exchange, from influenza viruses in other latitudes. The data produced from our investigations are valuable contributions to the study of AI viruses in South America.
Pereda
Ariel J
AJ
Instituto de Virología, CICVyA, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, C.C. 25, Castelar (1712), Buenos Aires, Argentina. apereda@cnia.inta.gov.ar
Uhart
Marcela
M
Perez
Alberto A
AA
Zaccagnini
María E
ME
La Sala
Luciano
L
Decarre
Julieta
J
Goijman
Andrea
A
Solari
Laura
L
Suarez
Romina
R
Craig
María I
MI
Vagnozzi
Ariel
A
Rimondi
Agustina
A
König
Guido
G
Terrera
María V
MV
Kaloghlian
Analía
A
Song
Haichen
H
Sorrell
Erin M
EM
Perez
Daniel R
DR
D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology*; D002988:Cloaca / Q000821:virology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
D012367:RNA, Viral