Novel triple reassortant H1N2 influenza viruses bearing six internal genes of the pandemic 2009/H1N1 influenza virus were detected in pigs in China

At present, three predominant influenza virus subtypes, H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2, circulate among pigs worldwide. The wholly avian-like H1N1 virus, known as Eurasian avian-like H1N1, was first isolated from pigs in Italy in 1979, and appeared in China in the 1990s [1]. H1N2 viruses, first reported in Japan in 1978, which contained a variety of gene combinations or reassortment patterns between the H1N1 and H3N2 influenza viruses also concurrently circulate among swine herds in various counties [2]. In 1999, North American triple-reassortant H1N2 viruses, which resulted from human-, swine-, and avian-origin genes of influenza viruses, began to appear in pigs [3].
Source: Journal of Clinical Virology - Category: Virology Authors: Source Type: research