Haemagglutinating pattern of some Nigerian isolates of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 to mammalian and avian erythrocytes.

摘要

The haemagglutination binding pattern of some Nigerian isolates of HPAI H5N1 to selected erythrocytes of mammalian and avian origin was investigated. Fifteen isolates of the virus from 8 states in Nigeria were tested using rapid haemagglutination (RHA) test against five mammalian and five avian erythrocytes. Erythrocytes of human, dog, chicken, turkey, quail, geese and duck were agglutinated by all the isolates while cow and horse erythrocytes were agglutinated by 14 of the isolates. On the contrary, none of the isolates agglutinated pig erythrocytes. Further investigation with erythrocytes from 4 different breeds of pigs showed similar pattern of non-agglutination. This work shows that pig erythrocytes has poor or no affinity for Nigerian isolates of HPAI which may suggest low expression or lack of receptors for HPAI in this species. Further work is required to determine the molecular basis for this variation.