Swine-to-human transmission of influenza A(H3N2) virus at agricultural fairs, Ohio, USA, 2012

Andrew S. Bowman, Sarah W. Nelson, Shannon L. Page, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Mary L. Killian, Srinand Sreevatsan, Richard D. Slemons

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

Agricultural fairs provide an opportunity for bidirectional transmission of influenza A viruses. We sought to determine influenza A virus activity among swine at fairs in the United States. As part of an ongoing active influenza A virus surveillance project, nasal swab samples were collected from exhibition swine at 40 selected Ohio agricultural fairs during 2012. Influenza A(H3N2) virus was isolated from swine at 10 of the fairs. According to a concurrent public health investigation, 7 of the 10 fairs were epidemiologically linked to confirmed human infections with influenza A(H3N2) variant virus. Comparison of genome sequences of the subtype H3N2 isolates recovered from humans and swine from each fair revealed nucleotide identities of >99.7%, confirming zoonotic transmission between swine and humans. All influenza A(H3N2) viruses isolated in this study, regardless of host species or fair, were >99.5% identical, indicating that 1 virus strain was widely circulating among exhibition swine in Ohio during 2012.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1472-1480
Number of pages9
JournalEmerging infectious diseases
Volume20
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2014

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