Shared genes identified between chicken virus, H7N9 in China

The prevalence and variation of the H9N2 chicken virus may reveal insights into the ongoing Chinese influenza A (H7N9) outbreak, according to data recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers tracked the H9N2 chicken virus from 1994 to 2013 using whole genome sequencing. They found that the efficacy of regular poultry vaccination sharply declined in 2010 and 2011 when the G57 genotype became widespread. Mutations within the new subtype allowed it to become highly adaptive, as well as more likely to swap genes with influenza viruses affecting other species. “The emergence of this dominant H9N2 virus was the first step in the genesis of the H7N9 viruses because it greatly increased the likelihood of reassortment between H9N2 and other flu subtypes,” Jinhua Liu, PhD, of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the China Agricultural University in Beijing, said in a press release. Researchers wrote that the different influenza viruses...