Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1999, p. 3005-3009, Vol. 37, No. 9
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Department of Veterinary
Microbiology/Virology Section,
Received 14 October 1998/Returned for modification 8 March
1999/Accepted 12 May 1999
Direct amplification and sequencing of the hemagglutinin (HA) genes
of equine influenza virus subtype H3N8 was undertaken in order to
characterize strains of this virus circulating in Sweden. The majority
of viruses from outbreaks during 1997 analyzed belonged to the American
lineage of H3 equine influenza, and one strain was shown to belong to
the European lineage. Furthermore, it was shown that recent
American-lineage strains are mutated at amino acid position 190 of the
HA during serial passage in embryonated hens' eggs. Host cell
adaptation of these viruses thus takes place at antigenic region B of
the HA.
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Department of
Cellular and Molecular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone: (617) 496-4989. Fax: (617) 496-6770. E-mail: Leif.Oxburgh{at}vmm.slu.se.
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