Description
Commercial swine farms provide unique systems for interspecies transmis-sion of influenza A viruses (FLUAVs) at the animal-human interface. Bidirectional trans-mission of FLUAVs between pigs and humans plays a significant role in the generationof novel strains that become established in the new host population. Active FLUAV sur-veillance was conducted for 2 years on a commercial pig farm in Southern Guatemalawith no history of FLUAV vaccination. Nasal swabs (n= 2,094) from fattening pigs (6 to24 weeks old) with respiratory signs were collected weekly from May 2016 to February2018.SwabswerescreenedforFLUAVbyreal-timereversetranscriptasePCR(RRT-PCR),and full virus genomes of FLUAV-positive swabs were sequenced by next-generationsequencing (NGS). FLUAV prevalence was 12.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.6% to13.4%) with two distinct periods of high infection. All samples were identified asFLUAVs of the H1N1 subtype within the H1 swine clade 1A.3.3.2 and whose ancestorsare the human origin 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic virus (H1N1 pdm09). Compared tothe prototypic reference segment sequence, 10 amino acid signatures were observedon relevant antigenic sites on the hemagglutinin. The Guatemalan swine-origin FLUAVsshow independent evolution from other H1N1 pdm09 FLUAVs circulating in CentralAmerica. The zoonotic risk of these viruses remains unknown but strongly calls for con-tinued FLUAV surveillance in pigs in Guatemala.
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