Characterization of an Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus Isolated from a Child with a Fatal Respiratory Illness
Abstract
An avian H5N1 influenza A virus (A/Hong Kong/156/97) was isolated from a tracheal aspirate obtained from a 3-year-old child in Hong Kong with a fatal illness consistent with influenza. Serologic analysis indicated the presence of an H5 hemagglutinin. All eight RNA segments were derived from an avian influenza A virus. The hemagglutinin contained multiple basic amino acids adjacent to the cleavage site, a feature characteristic of highly pathogenic avian influenza A viruses. The virus caused 87.5 to 100 percent mortality in experimentally inoculated White Plymouth Rock and White Leghorn chickens. These results may have implications for global influenza surveillance and planning for pandemic influenza.
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We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of K. Shu-wing, J. Chan, and the doctors and nurses of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong; P. Lo and the doctors at the Baptist Hospital, Hong Kong; M. F. C. Chan, P. T. Saw, K. H. Mak, and T. H. Tsang of the Hong Kong Department of Health; J. S. Tam of Chinese University of Hong Kong; K. F. Shortridge of the University of Hong Kong; K. Liu of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hong Kong; D. Suarez of the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Athens, GA; and H. Izurieta, C. Dentinger, T. Voss, G. Perez-Oronoz, J. Love, W. Gamble, and I. Baker of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. We thank R. G. Webster of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, for sharing oligonucleotide primers for and monoclonal antibodies against the H5 HA, and E. Claas and A. Osterhaus of Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, for sharing primer sequences.
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Published In
Science
Volume 279 • Issue 5349 • 16 January 1998
Pages: 393 - 396
History
Received: 26 September 1997
Accepted: 9 December 1997
