title: Avian influenza A (H5N1) infection in a patient in China, 2006.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has caused increasing human infection in Eurasia since 2004. So far, H5N1 human infection has been associated with over 50% mortality that is partly because of delay of diagnosis and treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Here, we report that an H5N1 influenza virus infected a 31-year-old patient in Shenzhen in June 2006. To identify the possible source of the infection, the human isolate and other H5N1 influenza viruses obtained from poultry and wild birds in southern China during the same period of time were characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genetic and antigenic analyses revealed that the human H5N1 influenza virus, Shenzhen/406H/06, is of purely avian origin and is most closely related to viruses detected in poultry and wild birds in Hong Kong in early 2006.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of the present study suggest that the continued endemicity of H5N1 influenza virus in the poultry in southern China increases the chance for introduction of the virus to humans. This highlights the importance of continued surveillance of poultry and wild birds for determining the source for human H5N1 infection.
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Donghu Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: G J D
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: J S M
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Peiris
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology; D002681:China; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011200:Poultry / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral