02.04.2015

Virology (2015) 482:79-83

Researchers with the US Geological Survey reported that they found H9N2 viruses in two wild birds in western Alaska that match strains from China and South Korea. Genetically indistinguishable H9N2 subtype IAVs were recovered from an emperor goose (Chen canagica) fecal sample and a northern pintail (Anas acuta) cloacal swab, both collected in September 2011, yielded the isolates. All eight gene segments of the two viruses were more than 99.4% the same as recent H9N2 isolates from Lake Dongting, China, and Cheon-su Bay, South Korea. The novel finding of nearly identical viruses in Alaska, China, and South Korea provides direct evidence for the dispersal of influenza A viruses between East Asia and North America by wild birds.