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Title: Quantifying the global antigenic diversity of swine influenza A viruses

Author
item LEWIS, N - University Of Cambridge
item RUSSELL, C - University Of Cambridge
item Anderson, Tavis
item BERGER, K - University Of Cambridge
item BURKE, D - University Of Cambridge
item FONVILLE, J - University Of Cambridge
item FOUCHIER, R.A - Erasmus Medical Center
item KELLAM, P - Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
item KOEL, B - Erasmus Medical Center
item Baker, Amy

Submitted to: eLife
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/23/2016
Publication Date: 4/15/2016
Citation: Lewis, N.S., Russell, C.A., Langat, P., Anderson, T.K., Berger, K., Bielejec, F., Burke, D.F., Dudas, G., Fonville, J.M., Fouchier, R.A., Kellam, P., Koel, B.F., Lemey, P., Nguyen, T., Nuansrichy, B., Peiris, J.M., Saito, T., Simon, G., Skepner, E., Takemae, N., ESNIP3 consortium, Webby, R.J., van Reeth, K., Brookes, S.M., Larsen, L., Watson, S.J., Brown, I.H., Vincent, A.L. 2016. The global antigenic diversity of swine influenza A viruses. eLife. 5:e12217.

Interpretive Summary: Understanding how influenza A viruses (IAV) are changing in swine and the regional differences that exist in IAV from swine are critical to reduce disease burden in production animals and reduce the risk of swine viruses infecting and spreading in humans. IAV genetic makeup continually changes, and monitoring the patterns of swine IAV genetic change is needed to identify possible emerging influenza threats. The impact these genetic changes have on the ability for IAV to avoid swine or human population immunity must also be measured to monitor for possible emerging influenza threats to the human population. Immunity against the major contemporary genetic groups of IAV in swine are significantly different from recent human seasonal IAV, and we, therefore, propose that they have a higher relative risk for human pandemic potential. Due to the diversity within and between regions, IAV are unlikely to be controlled using current vaccination strategies from a swine production perspective, further perpetuating the risk that swine IAV may pose to humans. The results of this paper aid in improving agricultural production and pandemic preparedness by allowing for the identification of important changes in swine IAV and providing a benchmark from which to measure success of intervention strategies. This paper also represents the first step towards a globally coordinated and systematic method for genetic and antigenic analyses of currently circulating swine IAV.

Technical Abstract: Swine influenza presents a substantial disease burden for pig populations worldwide and poses a potential pandemic threat to humans. There is considerable diversity in both H1 and H3 influenza viruses circulating in swine due to the frequent introductions of viruses from humans and birds coupled with geographic segregation of global swine populations. Much of this diversity is characterized genetically but the antigenic relationships of these viruses remain poorly understood. Critically, it is the antigenic diversity that shapes the risk profile of swine influenza viruses in terms of their epizootic and pandemic potential. Here, using the most comprehensive set of swine influenza virus antigenic data compiled to date, we quantify the antigenic diversity of swine influenza viruses on a multicontinental scale. The spatial heterogeneity of recently circulating viruses creates diverse risk profiles for the global movement of swine and the potential for swine influenza-derived infections in humans.