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Letter to the Editor| Volume 86, ISSUE 2, P154-225, February 2023

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Are companion animals overlooked intermediate hosts for the cross-species transmission of influenza viruses?

Published:December 11, 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.12.005
      In 2022, a boy with influenza-like symptoms was found to be infected with a novel H3N8 avian influenza virus in Henan province.
      • Cheng D.
      • Dong Y.
      • Wen S.
      • Shi C.
      A child with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by avian influenza H3N8 virus.
      • Li P.
      • Niu M.
      • Li Y.
      • Xu M.
      • Zhao T.
      • Cao X.
      • et al.
      Human infection with H3N8 avian influenza virus: a novel H9N2-original reassortment virus.
      • Yang R.
      • Sun H.
      • Gao F.
      • Luo K.
      • Huang Z.
      • Tong Q.
      • et al.
      Human infection of avian influenza A H3N8 virus and the viral origins: a descriptive study.
      • Bao P.
      • Liu Y.
      • Zhang X.
      • Fan H.
      • Zhao J.
      • Mu M.
      • et al.
      Human infection with a reassortment avian influenza A H3N8 virus: an epidemiological investigation study.
      Subsequently, in May 2022 H3N8 avian influenza virus caused a second human infection in Hunan province. The H3N8 human viruses originated from chickens
      • Yang R.
      • Sun H.
      • Gao F.
      • Luo K.
      • Huang Z.
      • Tong Q.
      • et al.
      Human infection of avian influenza A H3N8 virus and the viral origins: a descriptive study.
      ,
      • Bi Y.
      • Li J.
      • Shi W.
      The time is now: a call to contain H9N2 avian influenza viruses.
      , but its RNA was also detected in nasopharyngeal swabs of cats and dogs and environmental samples collected in the patient's house.
      • Bao P.
      • Liu Y.
      • Zhang X.
      • Fan H.
      • Zhao J.
      • Mu M.
      • et al.
      Human infection with a reassortment avian influenza A H3N8 virus: an epidemiological investigation study.
      Of note, the full-length HA sequences from pets and human patients were identical, but revealed differences to avian H3N8 suggesting adaption to mammalian hosts. In addition, a veterinarian was infected with a low pathogenic avian influenza virus H7N2 in 2016 while collecting samples from an influenza outbreak at a cat shelter in New York City.
      • Lee C.T.
      • Slavinski S.
      • Schiff C.
      • Merlino M.
      • Daskalakis D.
      • Liu D.
      • et al.
      Outbreak of influenza A(H7N2) among cats in an animal shelter with cat-to-human transmission-New York city, 2016.
      This indicates that companion animals might be previously overlooked intermediate hosts for the cross-species transmission of influenza viruses to humans, emphasizing that monitoring influenza virus in pets and analyzing mutations for mammalian adaptation is of great importance for public health.
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