PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Liang Chen AU - Feng Zhu AU - Chenglong Xiong AU - Zhijie Zhang AU - Lufang Jiang AU - Rui Li AU - Genming Zhao AU - Yue Chen AU - Qingwu Jiang TI - Notorious Novel Avian Influenza Viruses H10N8 and H7N9 in China in 2013 Co-originated from H9N2 AID - 10.1101/004390 DP - 2014 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 004390 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/04/21/004390.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/04/21/004390.full AB - In 2013, two new avian influenza viruses (AIVs) H7N9 and H10N8 emerged in China caused worldwide concerns. Previous studies have studied their originations independently; this study is the first time to investigate their co-originating characteristics. Gene segments of assorted subtype influenza A viruses, as well as H10N8 and H7N9, were collected from public database. 26 With the help of series software, small and large-scale phylogenetic trees, mean evolutionary rates, and divergence years were obtained successionally. The results demonstrated the two AIVs co-originated from H9N2, and shared a spectrum of mutations in common on many key sites related to pathogenic, tropism and epidemiological characteristics. For a long time, H9N2 viruses had been circulated in eastern and southern China; poultry was the stable and lasting maintenance reservoir. High carrying rate of AIVs H9N2 in poultry had an extremely high risk of co-infections with other influenza viruses, which increased the risk of virus reassortment. It implied that novel AIVs reassortants based on H9N2 might appear and prevail at any time in China; therefore, surveillance of H9N2 AIVs should be given a high priority.