2009 Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) Resembles Previous Influenza Isolates |
| |
| Authors: | Carl Kingsford Niranjan Nagarajan Steven L. Salzberg |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Institute for Advance Computer Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.; 2. Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.;University of Birmingham, United Kingdom |
| |
| Abstract: | BackgroundIn April 2009, novel swine-origin influenza viruses (S-OIV) were identified in patients from Mexico and the United States. The viruses were genetically characterized as a novel influenza A (H1N1) strain originating in swine, and within a very short time the S-OIV strain spread across the globe via human-to-human contact.MethodologyWe conducted a comprehensive computational search of all available sequences of the surface proteins of H1N1 swine influenza isolates and found that a similar strain to S-OIV appeared in Thailand in 2000. The earlier isolates caused infections in pigs but only one sequenced human case, A/Thailand/271/2005 (H1N1).SignificanceDifferences between the Thai cases and S-OIV may help shed light on the ability of the current outbreak strain to spread rapidly among humans. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
