Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Exotic & Emerging Avian Viral Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #316262
Title: Poultry vaccination directed evolution of H9N2 low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses in Korea

Author
item LEE, DONG-HUN - Orise Fellow
item FUSARO, ALICE - Istituto Zooprofilattico
item SONG, CHANG-SEON - Konkuk University
item Suarez, David
item Swayne, David

Submitted to: Journal of Virology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2015
Publication Date: 1/4/2016
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62167
Citation: Lee, D., Fusaro, A., Song, C., Suarez, D.L., Swayne, D.E. 2016. Poultry vaccination directed evolution of H9N2 low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses in Korea. Journal of Virology. 488(2016):225-231. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.11.023.

Interpretive Summary: H9N2 low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus infections across North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia have caused major economic losses to poultry industries. Based on genetic evolutionary studies, the Korean H9N2 viruses increased in diversity between 2003 and 2007, and with implementation of vaccination in poultry in 2007, there has been a reduction in number of genetic clades of H9N2 and maintenance of a lower genetic diversity level. However, the current vaccine is a poor antigenic match to circulating field viruses indicating an update in vaccine seed strain is needed.

Technical Abstract: Significant economic losses in the poultry industries have resulted from H9N2 low pathogenic avian influenza virus infections across North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The present study investigated the evolutionary dynamics of H9N2 viruses circulating in Korea from 1996 to 2012. Our analysis of viral population dynamics revealed an increase in genetic diversity between the years 2003 and 2007, corresponding to the spread and diversification of H9N2 viruses into multiple genetic groups (named A and B), followed by a sudden decrease in 2007, which was associated with implementation of vaccination using a Clade A virus. Implementation of the H9N2 vaccination program in Korea has dramatically reduced the diversity of H9N2 virus, and only one sub-lineage of clade B has survived, expanded, and currently circulates in Korea. In addition, the antigenic drift of this new genetic group away from the current vaccine strain suggests the need to update the vaccine seed strain.