title: Risk assessment of recent Egyptian H5N1 influenza viruses.
abstract: Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of the H5N1 subtype are enzootic in poultry populations in different parts of the world, and have caused numerous human infections in recent years, particularly in Egypt. However, no sustained human-to-human transmission of these viruses has yet been reported. We tested nine naturally occurring Egyptian H5N1 viruses (isolated in 2014-2015) in ferrets and found that three of them transmitted via respiratory droplets, causing a fatal infection in one of the exposed animals. All isolates were sensitive to neuraminidase inhibitors. However, these viruses were not transmitted via respiratory droplets in three additional transmission experiments in ferrets. Currently, we do not know if the efficiency of transmission is very low or if subtle differences in experimental parameters contributed to these inconsistent results. Nonetheless, our findings heighten concern regarding the pandemic potential of recent Egyptian H5N1 influenza viruses.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: A-S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Arafa
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamayoshi
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwatsuki-Horimoto
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiso
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakai-Tagawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Sinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Sinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yasuhara
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Macken
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ping
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hatta
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: T J S
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Health Sciences, Chubu University, Aichi 487-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Husseiny
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selim
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hagag
authors.affiliation: General Organization for Veterinary Services, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.affiliation: Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Sinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.|Influenza Research Institute, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53711, USA.|Department of Special Pathogens, International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawaoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001681:Biological Assay; D004285:Dogs; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D005289:Ferrets; D015870:Gene Expression; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D061985:Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells; D009439:Neuraminidase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018570:Risk Assessment; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D014764:Viral Proteins; D009439:Neuraminidase