Recombination of H1N1 in Iowa Swine

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Recombination and G158E Duplication In H1N1 Iowa Swine

Admittedly, not an easy commentary to understand, & I am hoping that Dr. Niman will explain this a little better over at PFI where I picked this up. What I think that he is saying is that, in swine, the pandemic virus, H1N1 is continually evolving & changing. Thus, we could have not just the current pandemic virus to contend with, but also a new virus as well which our vaccinations cannot protect us from. Makes my head spin to think of this, but he may be correct:

...the Iowa swine sequence has KKEKEN, which almost certainly leads to significant immunological escape.

The isolate was collected a month ago and the genetic background is similar to humans infected by swine H1N1 in 2007 in Ohio. However, the sequence has also acquired pH1N1 sequences that are found in almost all pH1N1 isolates. Moreover, most of these polymorphisms are non-synonymous and at least one polymorphism traces back to 1918.

These acquisitions raise concerns that this virus could quickly gain efficient and sustained transmission in humans, leading to a co-circulating H1N1 pandemic.

More intense screening of swine in the United States would be useful.

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