Assessing evidence for avian-to-human transmission of influenza A/H9N2 virus in rural farming communities in northern Vietnam
Hoa LNM., Tuan NA., My PH., Huong TTK., Chi NTY., Hau Thu TT., Carrique-Mas J., Duong MT., Tho ND., Hoang ND., Thanh TL., Diep NT., Duong NV., Toan TK., Tung TS., Mai LQ., Iqbal M., Wertheim H., van Doorn HR., Bryant JE.
Rural farming communities in northern Vietnam do not routinely practice vaccination for influenza A viruses (IAV) for either humans or poultry, which enables us to study transmission intensity via seroepidemiology. Using samples from a longitudinal cohort of farming households, we determined the number of symptomatic and asymptomatic human infections for seasonal IAV and avian A/H9 over 2 years. As expected, we detected virologically confirmed acute cases of seasonal IAV in humans, as well as large numbers of subclinical seroconversions to A/H1pdm [55/265 (21 %)], A/H3 [95/265 (36 %)] and A/H9 [24/265 (9 %)]. Five of the A/H9 human seroconverters likely represented true infections rather than heterosubtypic immunity, because the individuals seroconverted solely to A/H9. Among co-located poultry, we found significantly higher seroprevalance for A/H5 compared to A/H9 in both chickens and ducks [for northern study sites overall, 337/1105 (30.5 %) seropositive for A/H5 and 123/1105 (11.1 %) seropositive for A/H9].