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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Virus and Prion Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339848
Research Project: Intervention Strategies to Control Influenza A Virus Infection in Swine

Location: Virus and Prion Research

Title: Influenza A (H3N2) virus in swine at agricultural fairs and transmission to humans, Michigan and Ohio, USA, 2016

Author
item BOWMAN, ANDREW - The Ohio State University
item WALIA, RASNA - Orise Fellow
item NOLTING, JACQUELINE - The Ohio State University
item Baker, Amy
item KILLIAN, MARY - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item ZENTKOVICH, M - The Ohio State University
item LORBACH, J - The Ohio State University
item LAUTERBACH, S - The Ohio State University
item Anderson, Tavis
item DAVIS, C - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item ZANDERS, N - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item JONES, J - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item YANG, Y - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item LYNCH, B - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item RODRIGUEZ, M - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item BLANTON, L - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item LINDSTROM, S - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item WENTWORTH, D - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item SCHILTZ, J - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item AVERILL, J - Michigan Department Of Agriculture
item FORSHEY, T - Ohio Department Of Agriculture

Submitted to: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/6/2017
Publication Date: 9/1/2017
Citation: Bowman, A.S., Walia, R.R., Nolting, J.M., Vincent, A.L., Killian, M.L., Zentkovich, M.M., Lorbach, J.N., Lauterbach, S.E., Anderson, T.K., Davis, C.T., Zanders, N., Jones, J., Yang, Y., Lynch, B., Rodriguez, M.R., Blanton, L., Lindstrom, S.E., Wentworth, D.E., Schiltz, J., Averill, J.J., Forshey, T. 2017. Influenza A (H3N2) virus in swine at agricultural fairs and transmission to humans, Michigan and Ohio, USA, 2016. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 23(9):1551-1555. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2309.170847.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2309.170847

Interpretive Summary: Influenza A virus (IAV) in pigs impacts mortality and causes economic losses through reduced production and costs associated with vaccination and treatment. Additionally, the antigenic diversity of U.S. swine H3N2 viruses represents a public health concern as human immunity to these swine IAV may be reduced and have a higher relative risk for spillover to humans. The objective of this study was to determine the origin of 18 2016 IAV cases isolated from people following their attendance at agricultural fairs over the summer. Samples collected from swine from the same location and at the same time as the human infections provided clear molecular evidence of zoonotic IAV transmission: the viruses recovered from the swine were nearly identical to viruses identified in the humans. These results demonstrate the need for continued genetic and antigenic characterization of swine IAV to determine potential vaccine and intervention efforts that minimize transmission in swine herds, and to inform public health efforts at agricultural exhibitions with the goal to decrease the frequency of spillover of IAV from pigs to people.

Technical Abstract: An 18 case outbreak of variant H3N2 influenza A occurred during 2016 after exposure to influenza-infected swine at seven agricultural fairs. Sixteen cases were infected with a reassortant between 2010-2011 human seasonal H3N2 strains and viruses endemic in North American swine, a viral lineage increasingly prevalent among U.S. swine.