title: Lethal infection by a novel reassortant H5N1 avian influenza A virus in a zoo-housed tiger.
abstract: In early 2013, a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) in a zoo died of respiratory distress. All specimens from the tiger were positive for HPAI H5N1, which were detected by real-time PCR, including nose swab, throat swab, tracheal swab, heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, aquae pericardii and cerebrospinal fluid. One stain of virus, A/Tiger/JS/1/2013, was isolated from the lung sample. Pathogenicity experiments showed that the isolate was able to replicate and cause death in mice. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that HA and NA of A/Tiger/JS/1/2013 clustered with A/duck/Vietnam/OIE-2202/2012 (H5N1), which belongs to clade 2.3.2.1. Interestingly, the gene segment PB2 shared 98% homology with A/wild duck/Korea/CSM-28/20/2010 (H4N6), which suggested that A/Tiger/JS/1/2013 is a novel reassortant H5N1 subtype virus. Immunohistochemical analysis also confirmed that the tiger was infected by this new reassortant HPAI H5N1 virus. Overall, our results showed that this Bengal tiger was infected by a novel reassortant H5N1, suggesting that the H5N1 virus can successfully cross species barriers from avian to mammal through reassortment.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, China; OIE Reference Laboratory for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Division of Animal Influenza, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150009, China.
authors.forename: Jianzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Institute of the Prevention of Acute Disease, Jiangsu Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Animal Influenza, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150009, China.
authors.forename: Hualan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, China; OIE Reference Laboratory for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing 210095, China. Electronic address: lucp@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chengping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D016865:Reassortant Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D046010:Tigers
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: H5N1; Novel reassortant avian influenza A virus; Tiger