Abstract
Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) viruses occasionally infect, but typically do not transmit, in mammals. In the Spring of 2024, an unprecedented outbreak of HPAI H5N1 in bovine herds occurred in the US, with virus spread within and between herds, infections in poultry and cats, and spillover into humans, collectively indicating an increased public health risk1-4. Here, we characterized an HPAI H5N1 virus isolated from infected cow milk in mice and ferrets. Like other HPAI H5N1 viruses, the bovine H5N1 virus spread systemically, including to the mammary glands of both species; however, this tropism was also observed for an older HPAI H5N1 virus isolate. Importantly, bovine HPAI H5N1 virus bound to sialic acids expressed in human upper airways and inefficiently transmitted to exposed ferrets (one of four exposed ferrets seroconverted without virus detection). Bovine HPAI H5N1 virus thus possesses features that may facilitate infection and transmission in mammals.
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These authors contributed equally: Amie J. Eisfeld, Asim Biswas, Lizheng Guan, Chunyang Gu, Tadashi Maemura
Authors and Affiliations
Influenza Research Institute, Dept. of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Amie J. Eisfeld,Asim Biswas,Lizheng Guan,Chunyang Gu,Tadashi Maemura,Sanja Trifkovic,Tong Wang,Lavanya Babujee,Randall Dahn,Peter J. Halfmann,Gabriele Neumann&Yoshihiro Kawaoka
Heritage Vet Partners, Johnson, KS, USA
Tera Barnhardt
Department of Biochemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Yasuo Suzuki
Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Canyon, TX, USA
Alexis Thompson
Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, College Station, TX, USA
Amy K. Swinford&Kiril M. Dimitrov
Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Keith Poulsen
Department of Virology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshihiro Kawaoka
The University of Tokyo Pandemic Preparedness, Infection and Advanced research center (UTOPIA), University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshihiro Kawaoka
The Research Center for Global Viral Diseases, National Center for Global Health and Medicine Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshihiro Kawaoka
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- Amie J. Eisfeld
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- Asim Biswas
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- Lizheng Guan
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- Chunyang Gu
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- Tadashi Maemura
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- Sanja Trifkovic
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- Tong Wang
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- Lavanya Babujee
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- Randall Dahn
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- Peter J. Halfmann
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- Tera Barnhardt
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- Gabriele Neumann
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- Yasuo Suzuki
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- Alexis Thompson
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- Amy K. Swinford
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- Kiril M. Dimitrov
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- Keith Poulsen
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- Yoshihiro Kawaoka
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Correspondence to Yoshihiro Kawaoka.
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Eisfeld, A.J., Biswas, A., Guan, L. et al. Pathogenicity and transmissibility of bovine H5N1 influenza virus. Nature (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07766-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07766-6
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