Airborne transmission of human-isolated avian H3N8 influenza virus between ferrets

Sun, Honglei; Li, Han; Tong, Qi; Han, Qiqi; Liu, Jiyu; Yu, Haili; Song, Hao; Qi, Jianxun; Li, Jiaqi; Yang, Jizhe; Lan, Riguo; Deng, Guojing; Chang, Haoyu; Qu, Yajin; Pu, Juan; Sun, Yipeng; Lan, Yu; Wang, Dayan; Shi, Yi; Liu, William J.; Chang, Kin-Chow; Gao, George F.; Liu, Jinhua

Abstract

H3N8 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in China caused two confirmed human infections in 2022, followed by a fatal case reported in 2023. H3N8 viruses are widespread in chicken flocks; however, the zoonotic features of H3N8 viruses are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that H3N8 viruses were able to infect and replicate efficiently in organotypic normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells and lung epithelial (Calu-3) cells. Human isolates of H3N8 virus were more virulent and caused severe pathology in mice and ferrets, relative to chicken isolates. Importantly, H3N8 virus isolated from a patient with severe pneumonia was transmissible between ferrets through respiratory droplets; it had acquired human-receptor-binding preference and amino acid substitution PB2-E627K necessary for airborne transmission. Human populations, even when vaccinated against human H3N2 virus, appear immunologically naive to emerging mammalian-adapted H3N8 AIVs and could be vulnerable to infection at epidemic or pandemic proportion.

Citation

Sun, H., Li, H., Tong, Q., Han, Q., Liu, J., Yu, H., Song, H., Qi, J., Li, J., Yang, J., Lan, R., Deng, G., Chang, H., Qu, Y., Pu, J., Sun, Y., Lan, Y., Wang, D., Shi, Y., Liu, W. J., …Liu, J. (2023). Airborne transmission of human-isolated avian H3N8 influenza virus between ferrets. Cell, 186(19), 4074-4084.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.011

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 8, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Sep 4, 2023
• Publication Date: Sep 14, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2024
• Journal: Cell
• Print ISSN: 0092-8674
• Electronic ISSN: 1097-4172
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 186
• Issue: 19
• Pages: 4074-4084.e11
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.011
• Keywords: avian influenza viruses, H3N8 subtype, biological properties, ferret, airborne transmission, zoonosis
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25375146
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867423008917?via%3Dihub