02.11.2013

Infection, Genetics and Evolution (2013)

H9N2 influenza virus is a significant pandemic virus that causes moderate morbidity and low mortality in chicken throughout the world. H9N2 influenza virus is one of the most significant pandemic viruses on the list of World Health Organization. This subtype virus was initially reported among Turkeys in Wisconsin in 1966. H9N2 virus is known to cause low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) that is reportedly transmitted from poultry to mammalian species such as swine and humans in Asia since 1998.
Now for the first time researchers from China reported the isolation of H9N2 influenza virus from dogs in southern China. Genetic analysis of an isolate revealed that it was a novel genotype closely related to avian H9N2 virus. Epidemiologic studies demonstrated that the new H9N2-subtype virus was the causative agent of a disease in canine. Therefore, an appropriate countermeasure is urgently needed.