Marie R. Culhane

Distinct characteristics and complex evolution of pedv strains, North america, May 2013-february 2014

Sequence analysis showed heterogeneity among 74 strains and distinct molecular characteristics of highly virulent strains and variants.

Review of influenza A virus in swine worldwide: a call for increased surveillance and research.

Pigs and humans have shared influenza A viruses (IAV) since at least 1918, and many interspecies transmission events have been documented since that time. However, despite this interplay, relatively little is known regarding IAV circulating in swine around the world compared with the avian and human knowledge base. This gap in knowledge impedes our understanding of how viruses adapted to swine or man impacts the ecology and evolution of IAV as a whole and the true impact of swine IAV on human health. The pandemic H1N1 that emerged in 2009 underscored the need for greater surveillance and sharing of data on IAV in swine. In this paper, we review the current state of IAV in swine around the world, highlight the collaboration between international organizations and a network of laboratories engaged in human and animal IAV surveillance and research, and emphasize the need to increase information in high‐priority regions. The need for global integration and rapid sharing of data and resources to fight IAV in swine and other animal species is apparent, but this effort requires grassroots support from governments, practicing veterinarians and the swine industry and, ultimately, requires significant increases in funding and infrastructure.

Genotype patterns of contemporary reassorted H3N2 virus in US swine

To understand the evolution of swine-origin H3N2v influenza viruses that have infected 320 humans in the USA since August 2011, we performed a phylogenetic analysis at a whole genome scale of North American swine influenza viruses (n = 200). All viral isolates evolved from the prototypical North American H3 cluster 4 (c4), with evidence for further diversification into subclusters. At least ten distinct reassorted H3N2/pandemic H1N1 (rH3N2p) genotypes were identified in swine. Genotype 1 (G1) was most frequently detected in swine and all human H3N2v viruses clustered within a single G1 clade. These data suggest that the genetic requirements for transmission to humans may be restricted to a specific subset of swine viruses. Mutations at putative antigenic sites as well as reduced serological cross-reactivity among the H3 subclusters suggest antigenic drift of these contemporary viruses.

Introductions and Evolution of Human-Origin Seasonal Influenza A Viruses in Multinational Swine Populations

ABSTRACT The capacity of influenza A viruses to cross species barriers presents a continual threat to human and animal health. Knowledge of the human-swine interface is particularly important for understanding how viruses with pandemic potential evolve in swine hosts. We sequenced the genomes of 141 influenza viruses collected from North American swine during 2002 to 2011 and identified a swine virus that possessed all eight genome segments of human seasonal A/H3N2 virus origin. A molecular clock analysis indicates that this virus—A/sw/Saskatchewan/02903/2009(H3N2)—has likely circulated undetected in swine for at least 7 years. For historical context, we performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of an additional 1,404 whole-genome sequences from swine influenza A viruses collected globally during 1931 to 2013. Human-to-swine transmission occurred frequently over this time period, with 20 discrete introductions of human seasonal influenza A viruses showing sustained onward transmission in swine for at least 1 year since 1965. Notably, human-origin hemagglutinin (H1 and H3) and neuraminidase (particularly N2) segments were detected in swine at a much higher rate than the six internal gene segments, suggesting an association between the acquisition of swine-origin internal genes via reassortment and the adaptation of human influenza viruses to new swine hosts. Further understanding of the fitness constraints on the adaptation of human viruses to swine, and vice versa, at a genomic level is central to understanding the complex multihost ecology of influenza and the disease threats that swine and humans pose to each other. IMPORTANCE The swine origin of the 2009 A/H1N1 pandemic virus underscored the importance of understanding how influenza A virus evolves in these animals hosts. While the importance of reassortment in generating genetically diverse influenza viruses in swine is well documented, the role of human-to-swine transmission has not been as intensively studied. Through a large-scale sequencing effort, we identified a novel influenza virus of wholly human origin that has been circulating undetected in swine for at least 7 years. In addition, we demonstrate that human-to-swine transmission has occurred frequently on a global scale over the past decades but that there is little persistence of human virus internal gene segments in swine.

Identification, phylogenetic analysis and classification of porcine group C rotavirus VP7 sequences from the United States and Canada

Rotavirus C (RVC) is a major cause of gastroenteritis in swine. Between December 2009 and October 2011, 7520 porcine samples were analyzed from herds in the US and Canada. RVC RNA was detected in 46% of the tested samples. In very young pigs (≤3 days old) and young piglets (4-20 days old), 78% and 65%, respectively, RVC positive samples were negative for RVA and RVB. RVC RNA was also detected in 10% of tested lung tissues. Additionally, we investigated the porcine RVC molecular diversity by sequencing the VP7 gene segment of 65 specimens, yielding 70 VP7 gene sequences. Based on pairwise identity frequency profiles and phylogenetic analyses, an 85% nucleotide classification cut-off value was calculated using the novel sequence data generated in this study (n=70) and previously published RVC VP7 sequences (n=82), which resulted in the identification of 9 VP7 RVC genotypes, G1 to G9.

Global migration of influenza A viruses in swine

The complex and unresolved evolutionary origins of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic exposed major gaps in our knowledge of the global spatial ecology and evolution of influenza A viruses in swine (swIAVs). Here we undertake an expansive phylogenetic analysis of swIAV sequence data and demonstrate that the global live swine trade strongly predicts the spatial dissemination of swIAVs, with Europe and North America acting as sources of viruses in Asian countries. In contrast, China has the world’s largest swine population but is not a major exporter of live swine, and is not an important source of swIAVs in neighboring Asian countries or globally. A meta-population simulation model incorporating trade data predicts that the global ecology of swIAVs is more complex than previously thought, and the US and China’s large swine populations are unlikely to be representative of swIAV diversity in their respective geographic regions, requiring independent surveillance efforts throughout Latin America and Asia.

Active Surveillance for Influenza A Virus among Swine, Midwestern United States, 2009–2011

Veterinary diagnostic laboratories identify and characterize influenza A viruses primarily through passive surveillance. However, additional surveillance programs are needed. To meet this need, an active surveillance program was conducted at pig farms throughout the midwestern United States. From June 2009 through December 2011, nasal swab samples were collected monthly from among 540 groups of growing pigs and tested for influenza A virus by real-time reverse transcription PCR. Of 16,170 samples, 746 were positive for influenza A virus; of these, 18.0% were subtype H1N1, 16.0% H1N2, 7.6% H3N2, and 14.5% (H1N1)pdm09. An influenza (H3N2) and (H1N1)pdm09 virus were identified simultaneously in 8 groups. This active influenza A virus surveillance program provided quality data and increased the understanding of the current situation of circulating viruses in the midwestern US pig population.

Shotgun glycomics of pig lung identifies natural endogenous receptors for influenza viruses.

Significance Studies using novel “shotgun glycan microarray” technology identify, for the first time to our knowledge, the endogenous receptors for influenza viruses from a natural host, the pig. Libraries of total N-glycans from pig lung were probed for binding properties using a panel of influenza viruses isolated from humans, birds, and swine. Natural glycan receptors were identified for all viruses examined, and although some displayed the rather broad α2,3 or α2,6 sialic acid linkage specificity conventionally associated with avian or human viruses, other strains were highly specific, revealing a complexity that has not been demonstrated previously. Because pigs are often implicated as intermediate hosts for pandemic viruses, these results and the approaches described will transform our understanding of influenza host range, transmission, and pathogenicity. Influenza viruses bind to host cell surface glycans containing terminal sialic acids, but as studies on influenza binding become more sophisticated, it is becoming evident that although sialic acid may be necessary, it is not sufficient for productive binding. To better define endogenous glycans that serve as viral receptors, we have explored glycan recognition in the pig lung, because influenza is broadly disseminated in swine, and swine have been postulated as an intermediary host for the emergence of pandemic strains. For these studies, we used the technology of “shotgun glycomics” to identify natural receptor glycans. The total released N- and O-glycans from pig lung glycoproteins and glycolipid-derived glycans were fluorescently tagged and separated by multidimensional HPLC, and individual glycans were covalently printed to generate pig lung shotgun glycan microarrays. All viruses tested interacted with one or more sialylated N-glycans but not O-glycans or glycolipid-derived glycans, and each virus demonstrated novel and unexpected differences in endogenous N-glycan recognition. The results illustrate the repertoire of specific, endogenous N-glycans of pig lung glycoproteins for virus recognition and offer a new direction for studying endogenous glycan functions in viral pathogenesis.

Airborne Detection and Quantification of Swine Influenza A Virus in Air Samples Collected Inside, Outside and Downwind from Swine Barns

Airborne transmission of influenza A virus (IAV) in swine is speculated to be an important route of virus dissemination, but data are scarce. This study attempted to detect and quantify airborne IAV by virus isolation and RRT-PCR in air samples collected under field conditions. This was accomplished by collecting air samples from four acutely infected pig farms and locating air samplers inside the barns, at the external exhaust fans and downwind from the farms at distances up to 2.1 km. IAV was detected in air samples collected in 3 out of 4 farms included in the study. Isolation of IAV was possible from air samples collected inside the barn at two of the farms and in one farm from the exhausted air. Between 13% and 100% of samples collected inside the barns tested RRT-PCR positive with an average viral load of 3.20E+05 IAV RNA copies/m3 of air. Percentage of exhaust positive air samples also ranged between 13% and 100% with an average viral load of 1.79E+04 RNA copies/m3 of air. Influenza virus RNA was detected in air samples collected between 1.5 and 2.1 Km away from the farms with viral levels significantly lower at 4.65E+03 RNA copies/m3. H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2 subtypes were detected in the air samples and the hemagglutinin gene sequences identified in the swine samples matched those in aerosols providing evidence that the viruses detected in the aerosols originated from the pigs in the farms under study. Overall our results indicate that pigs can be a source of IAV infectious aerosols and that these aerosols can be exhausted from pig barns and be transported downwind. The results from this study provide evidence of the risk of aerosol transmission in pigs under field conditions.

Rapid detection and high occurrence of porcine rotavirus A, B, and C by RT-qPCR in diagnostic samples

Rotaviruses are important cause of diarrhea in animals, including humans. Currently, rotavirus species A, B, C, E, and H (RVA-RVC, RVE, and RVH) have been identified in pigs. Traditionally, RVA has been considered the primary cause of diarrhea in pigs, and RVB and RVC had been described sporadically in pigs until recently. Qualitative porcine RVA, RVB, and RVC RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) assays were designed and 7508 porcine diarrheic samples, submitted to University of Minnesota, were tested to estimate the percentage of RVA, RVB, and RVC over a period of approximately 2 years (from 2009 to 2011). The individual RVA and RVC RT-qPCR assays were multiplex into a single RT-qPCR while the RVB RT-qPCR assay remained as an individual RT-qPCR. In total, 83% of the samples were positive for RVA, RVB, or RVC. As expected, RVA was detected at the highest overall percentage (62%). However, 33% and 53% of the samples were positive for RVB and RVC, respectively, indicating that both RVB and RVC are also epidemiologically important in the swine population. RVC was most predominant in young pigs (1-20 days of age), while RVA and RVB were most predominant in ≥21 day old pigs. As diagnostic tools, the developed RT-qPCR assays could successfully discriminate among infecting RV species, which could lead to better surveillance and epidemiological studies for ultimately better prevention and control strategies.