ABSTRACT
Influenza D virus has been identified in America, Europe, and Asia. We detected influenza D virus antibodies in cattle and small ruminants from North (Morocco) and West (Togo and Benin) Africa. Dromedary camels in Kenya harbored influenza C or D virus antibodies, indicating a potential new host for these viruses.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/blood , Gammainfluenzavirus/isolation & purification , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/veterinary , Ruminants/virology , Thogotovirus/isolation & purification , Animals , Benin/epidemiology , Camelus , Cattle , Goats , Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests , Gammainfluenzavirus/classification , Gammainfluenzavirus/immunology , Kenya/epidemiology , Morocco/epidemiology , Neutralization Tests , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/transmission , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/virology , Sheep , Swine , Thogotovirus/classification , Thogotovirus/immunology , Togo/epidemiology , Viral LoadABSTRACT
We collected 325 nasal swabs from freshly slaughtered previously healthy pigs from October 2012 through January 2014 in a slaughterhouse near Lomé in Togo. Influenza A virus genome was detected by RT-PCR in 2.5-12.3% of the pooled samples, and results of hemagglutinin subtyping RT-PCR assays showed the virus in all the positive pools to be A(H1N1)pdm09. Virus was isolated on MDCK cells from a representative specimen, A/swine/Togo/ONA32/2013(H1N1). The isolate was fully sequenced and harbored eight genes similar to A(H1N1)pdm09 virus genes circulating in humans in 2012-2013, suggesting human-to-swine transmission of the pathogen.
Subject(s)
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype/genetics , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/veterinary , Swine Diseases/epidemiology , Swine Diseases/virology , Animals , Base Sequence , Cell Line , Dogs , Hemagglutinins , Humans , Molecular Sequence Data , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/transmission , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Swine , Swine Diseases/transmission , TogoABSTRACT
To determine the extent of animal influenza virus circulation in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, and Togo, we initiated systematic year-round active influenza surveillance in backyard birds (predominantly chickens, guinea fowl, and ducks) and pigs. A total of 26,746 swab specimens were screened by using reverse transcription PCR. Animal influenza prevalence was estimated at 0 (95% CIs for each of the 2 study years 0-0.04% to 0-1.48% [birds] and 0-0.28% to 0-5% [pigs]). In addition, 2,276 serum samples from the same populations were negative for influenza-specific antibodies. These data indicate that the environments and host populations previously identified as harboring high levels of influenza virus in Southeast Asia do not do so in these 3 countries. The combination of climate and animal density factors might be responsible for what appears to be the absence of influenza virus in the backyard sector of the 3 countries.
