title: Continual Antigenic Diversification in China Leads to Global Antigenic Complexity of Avian Influenza H5N1 Viruses.
abstract: The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus poses a significant potential threat to human society due to its wide spread and rapid evolution. In this study, we present a comprehensive antigenic map for HPAI H5N1 viruses including 218 newly sequenced isolates from diverse regions of mainland China, by computationally separating almost all HPAI H5N1 viruses into 15 major antigenic clusters (ACs) based on their hemagglutinin sequences. Phylogenetic analysis showed that 12 of these 15 ACs originated in China in a divergent pattern. Further analysis of the dissemination of HPAI H5N1 virus in China identified that the virus's geographic expansion was co-incident with a significant divergence in antigenicity. Moreover, this antigenic diversification leads to global antigenic complexity, as typified by the recent HPAI H5N1 spread, showing extensive co-circulation and local persistence. This analysis has highlighted the challenge in H5N1 prevention and control that requires different planning strategies even inside China.
authors.affiliation: College of Biology, Human University, Changsha, 410082, China.|Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yousong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science &Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Center of System Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences &Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100005, China.|Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China.
authors.forename: Aiping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Libo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Rongbao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bo
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Dayan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science &Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science &Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Meilin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, 100052, China.
authors.forename: Yuelong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|Center of System Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences &Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100005, China.|Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China.
authors.forename: Taijiao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang