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Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in Nigeria in 2015: evidence of widespread circulation of WA2 clade 2.3.2.1c

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Abstract

Genetic analysis of the complete haemagglutinin (HA) gene of fourteen Nigerian avian influenza isolates showed multiple basic amino acids at the cleavage site (321PQRERRRKdelR*GLF333), characteristic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Substitution of Gln to Lys at position 322 (H5-specific numbering) was identified in one isolate. In some isolates, amino acid substitutions were observed across the HA gene, however the receptor binding, antigenic and glycosylation sites were conserved in all. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two clusters of the HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.2.1c. Cluster I has close genetic relatedness (97.8–99.8%) with viruses circulating in some West Africa countries. Cluster II shared close identity (98.9–100.0%) with isolates from Europe, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger and viruses from this cluster were detected in five of the eleven states investigated in Nigeria. In view of the continuous HPAI outbreaks being recorded in Nigerian poultry and the zoonotic potential of the virus, extensive and continued characterization of HPAI isolates is advocated.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the Management of National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom during the course of this study. Special thanks to all the field epidemiologists and Avian Influenza Desk officers across the country for sample collection. We thank Davou C. Nyam, Ruth Akintola, Jesse Jonathan, Talatu Dashon Solomon and Daspan Amos for their excellent technical assistance. Special thanks to Dr. Ronke Odita for the map. We appreciate the support of the pathologists and other technical staff of Central Diagnostic Division. Sequences from GISAID’s Database were used in this study, we hereby acknowledge the authors, as well as the originating and submitting laboratories for these sequences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virology Division, National Veterinary Research Institute, PMB 01, Vom, 930010, Plateau State, Nigeria

    Ismaila Shittu, Clement A. Meseko, Dorcas A. Gado, Abraham K. Olawuyi, Chinonyerem N. Chinyere, Emmanuel Anefu, Ponman Solomon, David Shamaki & Tony M. Joannis

  2. Central Diagnostic Division, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria

    Philip A. Okewole

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  1. Ismaila Shittu
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  2. Clement A. Meseko
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  4. Abraham K. Olawuyi
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  5. Chinonyerem N. Chinyere
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  6. Emmanuel Anefu
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  7. Ponman Solomon
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  9. David Shamaki
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  10. Tony M. Joannis
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Correspondence to Ismaila Shittu or Tony M. Joannis.

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The study was partly supported by the management of the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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705_2016_3149_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary Figure S1: Alignment of deduced amino acid sequences from the full HA genes of the 14 Nigerian HPAI isolates. Dots show amino acids matching the consensus sequence. A dash signifies a deletion of an amino acid sequence in the alignment. The cleavage site is represented in a black box and antigenic sites with broken red lines. Red boxes labelled 1, 2, 3 indicate the three antigenic sites. The three receptor binding sites are identified by A (130-loop), B (190-helix) and C (220-loop) (TIFF 1534 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (DOCX 17 kb)

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Shittu, I., Meseko, C.A., Gado, D.A. et al. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in Nigeria in 2015: evidence of widespread circulation of WA2 clade 2.3.2.1c. Arch Virol 162, 841–847 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-016-3149-4

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