Susceptibility of Chincoteague Ponies to Antigenically Dissimilar Strains of Human Type A2 Influenza Virus

[摘要] Antigenically related strains of type A influenza viruses have been recovered from horses and man. The equine type 2 virus has been shown to share surface antigens with representative strains of human type A2 virus (1–4). However, a reciprocal relationship was found to be limited to A2/Hong Kong/68, a strain which is known to be immunologically dissimilar from others belonging to the same antigenic subtype (5, 6).These observations raise questions regarding the role of human type A2 influenza viruses in equine influenza. Information regarding both the origin of equine influenza viruses and the clinical significance of human influenza viruses in equine influenza is lacking. Genetic recombination has been suggested as a mechanism by which antigenically related strains of virus isolated from different host species might occur in nature. Hybridization of equine and human type A virus was reported recently to result in viral progeny possessing envelope antigens of both parental strains (7).

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）