title: North Atlantic migratory bird flyways provide routes for intercontinental movement of avian influenza viruses.
abstract: Avian influenza virus (AIV) in wild birds has been of increasing interest over the last decade due to the emergence of AIVs that cause significant disease and mortality in both poultry and humans. While research clearly demonstrates that AIVs can move across the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, there has been no data to support the mechanism of how this occurs. In spring and autumn of 2010 and autumn of 2011 we obtained cloacal swab samples from 1078 waterfowl, gulls, and shorebirds of various species in southwest and west Iceland and tested them for AIV. From these, we isolated and fully sequenced the genomes of 29 AIVs from wild caught gulls (Charadriiformes) and waterfowl (Anseriformes) in Iceland. We detected viruses that were entirely (8 of 8 genomic segments) of American lineage, viruses that were entirely of Eurasian lineage, and viruses with mixed American-Eurasian lineage. Prior to this work only 2 AIVs had been reported from wild birds in Iceland and only the sequence from one segment was available in GenBank. This is the first report of finding AIVs of entirely American lineage and Eurasian lineage, as well as reassortant viruses, together in the same geographic location. Our study demonstrates the importance of the North Atlantic as a corridor for the movement of AIVs between Europe and North America.
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Health Center, United States Geological Survey, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dusek
authors.affiliation: Southwest Iceland Nature Research Institute, Sandgerði, Iceland.
authors.forename: Gunnar T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Hallgrimsson
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Health Center, United States Geological Survey, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hon S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ip
authors.affiliation: Snæfellsnes Research Centre, University of Iceland, Stykkishólmur, Iceland.
authors.forename: Jón E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Jónsson
authors.affiliation: Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Srinand
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sreevatsan
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Health Center, United States Geological Survey, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sean W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Nashold
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Health Center, United States Geological Survey, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joshua L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: TeSlaa
authors.affiliation: Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Enomoto
authors.affiliation: J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Halpin
authors.affiliation: J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fedorova
authors.affiliation: J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Timothy B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Stockwell
authors.affiliation: J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Vivien G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Dugan
authors.affiliation: J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Wentworth
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Health Center, United States Geological Survey, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007055:Iceland; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins