Combined Phylogeographic Analyses and Epidemiologic Contact Tracing to Characterize Atypically Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H3N1) Epidemic, Belgium, 2019

作者：Steven Van Borm, Géraldine Boseret, Simon Dellicour, Mieke Steensels, Virginie Roupie, Frank Vandenbussche, Élisabeth Mathijs, Aline Vilain, Michèle Driesen, Marc Dispas, Andy Delcloo, Philippe Lemey, Ingeborg Mertens, Marius Gilbert, Bénédicte Lambrecht, Thierry van den Berg · 发表于：Emerging infectious diseases · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3201/eid2902.220765 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Influenza Virus Research Studies、Viral Infections and Vectors、Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology

The high economic impact and zoonotic potential of avian influenza call for detailed investigations of dispersal dynamics of epidemics. We integrated phylogeographic and epidemiologic analyses to investigate the dynamics of a low pathogenicity avian influenza (H3N1) epidemic that occurred in Belgium during 2019. Virus genomes from 104 clinical samples originating from 85% of affected farms were sequenced. A spatially explicit phylogeographic analysis confirmed a dominating northeast to southwest dispersal direction and a long-distance dispersal event linked to direct live animal transportation between farms. Spatiotemporal clustering, transport, and social contacts strongly correlated with the phylogeographic pattern of the epidemic. We detected only a limited association between wind direction and direction of viral lineage dispersal. Our results highlight the multifactorial nature of avian influenza epidemics and illustrate the use of genomic analyses of virus dispersal to complement epidemiologic and environmental data, improve knowledge of avian influenza epidemiologic dynamics, and enhance control strategies.