Revised and updated nomenclature for highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses.
The divergence of the hemagglutinin gene of A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996-lineage H5N1 viruses during 2011 and 2012 (807 new sequences collected through December 31, 2012) was analyzed by phylogenetic and p-distance methods to define new clades using the pre-established nomenclature system. Eight new clade designations were recommended based on division of clade 1·1 (Mekong River Delta), 2·1·3·2 (Indonesia), 2·2·2 (India/Bangladesh), 2·2·1·1 (Egypt/Israel), and 2·3·2·1 (Asia). A simplification to the previously defined criteria, which adds a letter rather than number to the right-most digit of fifth-order clades, was proposed to facilitate this and future updates.
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D014774:Virulence
D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus
H5N1; hemagglutinin; highly pathogenic avian influenza; molecular epidemiology; nomenclature; phylogenetics; viral evolution