tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Microbes Infect
. 2025 Apr 22:2497304.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2025.2497304. Online ahead of print. Risk assessment of 2024 cattle H5N1 using age-stratified serosurveillance data
Lin-Lei Chen[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Xiaojuan Zhang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Kang Zhang[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Brian Pui-Chun Chan[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Jacqueline Kwan Yuk Yuen[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Kwok-Yung Yuen[SUP] 1 2 3 7 8 [/SUP], Pui Wang[SUP] 1 2 4 [/SUP], Yuhe R Yang[SUP] 4 9 [/SUP], Honglin Chen[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Kelvin Kai-Wang To[SUP] 1 2 3 7 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b has caused a human outbreak in North America since March 2024. Here, we conducted a serosurveillance study to determine the risk of A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b (2024 cattle H5N1) to general population. In the initial screening of 180 serum specimens encompassing all age groups, 2.2% (4/180) had detectable neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers against reverse genetics-derived 2024 cattle H5N1, with all collected from older adults aged ≥60 years old. Further screening showed that 4.2% (19/450) of adults aged ≥60 years old had detectable nAb titers against the 2024 cattle H5N1. 80% (4/5) serum specimens with nAb titer of ≥40 had detectable HI titer, and there was a positive correlation between nAb titer and HA binding (r = 0.3325, 95% confidence interval 0.2477 to 0.4123; P < 0.0001). The nAb titer against seasonal H1N1 virus was 4.2-fold higher for ≥60 years old individuals with detectable H5N1 nAb titer than those ≥60 years old ones without (geometric mean titer: 89.3 [95% CI 42.9-185.7]) vs 21.3 [95% CI 17.3-26.1], P < 0.0001), but there was no statistically significant difference between H5N1 and H3N2 nAb titer. There was no difference in demographics, comorbidities and clinical frailty scores between individuals with detectable H5N1 nAb and those without. Our findings suggest that most individuals lack nAb response against 2024 cattle H5N1 and there is an urgency to develop and evaluate H5N1 vaccine or prophylactic monoclonal antibodies. Immune imprinting may be responsible for the cross neutralization between H5N1 and H1N1 among older adults.
Keywords: Avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b; Cattle; Elderly; Immune imprinting; Serosurveillance.
. 2025 Apr 22:2497304.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2025.2497304. Online ahead of print. Risk assessment of 2024 cattle H5N1 using age-stratified serosurveillance data
Lin-Lei Chen[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Xiaojuan Zhang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Kang Zhang[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Brian Pui-Chun Chan[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Jacqueline Kwan Yuk Yuen[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Kwok-Yung Yuen[SUP] 1 2 3 7 8 [/SUP], Pui Wang[SUP] 1 2 4 [/SUP], Yuhe R Yang[SUP] 4 9 [/SUP], Honglin Chen[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Kelvin Kai-Wang To[SUP] 1 2 3 7 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40262547
- DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2025.2497304
The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b has caused a human outbreak in North America since March 2024. Here, we conducted a serosurveillance study to determine the risk of A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b (2024 cattle H5N1) to general population. In the initial screening of 180 serum specimens encompassing all age groups, 2.2% (4/180) had detectable neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers against reverse genetics-derived 2024 cattle H5N1, with all collected from older adults aged ≥60 years old. Further screening showed that 4.2% (19/450) of adults aged ≥60 years old had detectable nAb titers against the 2024 cattle H5N1. 80% (4/5) serum specimens with nAb titer of ≥40 had detectable HI titer, and there was a positive correlation between nAb titer and HA binding (r = 0.3325, 95% confidence interval 0.2477 to 0.4123; P < 0.0001). The nAb titer against seasonal H1N1 virus was 4.2-fold higher for ≥60 years old individuals with detectable H5N1 nAb titer than those ≥60 years old ones without (geometric mean titer: 89.3 [95% CI 42.9-185.7]) vs 21.3 [95% CI 17.3-26.1], P < 0.0001), but there was no statistically significant difference between H5N1 and H3N2 nAb titer. There was no difference in demographics, comorbidities and clinical frailty scores between individuals with detectable H5N1 nAb and those without. Our findings suggest that most individuals lack nAb response against 2024 cattle H5N1 and there is an urgency to develop and evaluate H5N1 vaccine or prophylactic monoclonal antibodies. Immune imprinting may be responsible for the cross neutralization between H5N1 and H1N1 among older adults.
Keywords: Avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b; Cattle; Elderly; Immune imprinting; Serosurveillance.