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. 2021 Oct 14;10(10):1320.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens10101320.

Emergence and Characterization of a Novel Reassortant Canine Influenza Virus Isolated from Cats

Jin Zhao  1 , Wanting He  1 , Meng Lu  1 , Haijian He  2 , Alexander Lai  3
Affiliations

Emergence and Characterization of a Novel Reassortant Canine Influenza Virus Isolated from Cats

Jin Zhao et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Cats are susceptible to a wide range of influenza A viruses (IAV). Furthermore, cats can serve as an intermediate host, and transfer avian influenza virus (AIV) H7N2 to a veterinarian. In this report, a novel reassortant influenza virus, designated A/feline/Jiangsu/HWT/2017 (H3N2), and abbreviated as FIV-HWT-2017, was isolated from nasal swab of a symptomatic cat in Jiangsu province, China. Sequence analysis indicated that, whilst the other seven genes were most similar to the avian-origin canine influenza viruses (CIV H3N2) isolated in China, the NS gene was more closely related to the circulating human influenza virus (H3N2) in the region. Therefore, FIV-HWT-2017 is a reassortant virus. In addition, some mutations were identified, and they were similar to a distinctive CIV H3N2 clade. Whether these cats were infected with the reassortant virus was unknown, however, this random isolation of a reassortant virus indicated that domestic or stray cats were "mixing vessel" for IAV cannot be ruled out. An enhanced surveillance for novel influenza virus should include pet and stray cats.

Keywords: cats; novel influenza virus; reassortant.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogenetic analysis for the HA and NA gene of the H3N2 influenza viruses. The trees were generated by the maximum-likelihood (ML) with a bootstrap value of 1000 replicates (shown for each node). Viruses isolated in the present study are labeled with red dot, and other isolates from cats added the silhouette of the cat. Different color blocks represent different lineage. (A) Phylogenetic tree for HA. (B) Phylogenetic tree for NA. Scale Bar: Nucleotide substitutions per site.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogenetic analysis for the HA and NA gene of the H3N2 influenza viruses. The trees were generated by the maximum-likelihood (ML) with a bootstrap value of 1000 replicates (shown for each node). Viruses isolated in the present study are labeled with red dot, and other isolates from cats added the silhouette of the cat. Different color blocks represent different lineage. (A) Phylogenetic tree for HA. (B) Phylogenetic tree for NA. Scale Bar: Nucleotide substitutions per site.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic trees of the internal gene segments of the H3N2 influenza viruses. The trees were created by the maxi-mum-likelihood (ML) with a bootstrap value of 1000 replicates (shown for each node). Viruses isolated in the present study are labeled with red dot and other isolates from cats are labeled with yellow rhombus. The isolates from canine are labeled with blue violet rhombus. Branches of different colors represent different lineages. (A–F) Phylogenetic tree for PB1, PB2, PA, NP, MP, and NS, respectively. Scale Bar: Nucleotide substitutions per site.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic trees of the internal gene segments of the H3N2 influenza viruses. The trees were created by the maxi-mum-likelihood (ML) with a bootstrap value of 1000 replicates (shown for each node). Viruses isolated in the present study are labeled with red dot and other isolates from cats are labeled with yellow rhombus. The isolates from canine are labeled with blue violet rhombus. Branches of different colors represent different lineages. (A–F) Phylogenetic tree for PB1, PB2, PA, NP, MP, and NS, respectively. Scale Bar: Nucleotide substitutions per site.
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