Avian influenza A viruses of southern China and Hong Kong: ecological aspects and implications for man

Continuous surveillance of the influenza viruses isolated from domestic poultry from southern China and Hong Kong over more than 4 years resulted in the isolation of influenza viruses possessing 46 different combinations of haemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) subtypes. Of these, 43 were obtained from ducks from China. In all cases, infection appeared to be asymptomatic. The antigenic combination found most commonly in the viruses isolated was H4N6, which accounted for approximately one-quarter of the duck isolates, its occurrence being more frequent than expected from a statistical analysis of the observed frequencies of the haemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes among all the isolates. Some combinations of H and N occurred less frequently than expected or not at all. Influenza viruses tended to be isolated more frequently from ducks during the summer months in comparison with paramyxoviruses, which were more commonly encountered in the winter. Possible reasons for the great antigenic diversity of influenza A viruses in the poultry, especially the ducks, in the region are discussed together with the potential significance of these viruses to the emergence of human influenza pandemics.