Identification of the genetic sequences of avian influenza viruses in a person in Louisiana

Dr. Diyar Tayeb Barwari
It is clear that avian influenza has become one of the most comprehensive diseases in terms of research, investigation and follow-up. A number of researchers and academic bodies are working closely and seriously on the cause of this disease, which has become a health problem in a number of fields, including public health, human infection, poultry infection, and wild animal infection. Therefore, the area of ​​work on this virus is very large and there is a great overlap between the parties working on it.

The year 2024 was the year of infection of poultry and cattle project workers in a number of American states, the most important event in the history of this disease, and infection with the H5N1 type was the prominent feature of this disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sequenced the influenza viruses in samples collected from a patient in Louisiana who was infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) and became seriously ill. The sequences in this patient were compared to other highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) sequences from dairy cattle, wild birds, and poultry, as well as previous human cases. They were identified as genotype D1.1.

A report published on the CDC website indicated that analysis of two respiratory samples from the patient showed low-frequency mutations in the hemagglutinin gene in a sample sequenced from the patient that were not found in virus sequences from poultry samples collected on the patient’s property, suggesting that the changes appeared in the patient after the disease. The report found that the patient was infected with A(H5N1) virus of the D1.1 genotype, which is closely related to other D1.1 viruses that have recently been detected in wild birds and poultry in the United States and in recent human cases in British Columbia, Canada and Washington State.

The report indicated that this genotype of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus is different from the B3.13 genotype that is widely circulating and causes outbreaks in dairy cattle, poultry and other animals, with sporadic human cases in the United States.
When looking for changes associated with adaptation to mammals, some low-frequency changes in a segment of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene were observed in one sample, which is rare in humans but has been reported in previous cases of A(H5N1) infection in other countries, most often during severe infection.

The report concluded that one of the changes found in a sample collected from a human case with severe disease detected in British Columbia, Canada, was identified, suggesting that it emerged during the clinical course of the disease and as the virus replicated in the patient. Analysis of the neuraminidase N1 (NA), matrix (M), and polymerase (PA) genes from the samples did not show any changes associated with known or suspected markers of decreased susceptibility to antiviral drugs. It is clear that bird flu is a wide field for the work of several parties, which we notice at the global level. There are a number of organizations concerned with animal health, international trade, and human health that are seriously interested in it.

However, in Iraq, we are still at square one, which is that this disease is specific to poultry projects, and there is no appropriate priority for it that matches the global trend of this disease, which could threaten the lives of thousands of people in the future as a result of the change and development in the cause of the disease.