Serology investigation of avian influenza H6N6 virus in professional exposure populations in China

Objective In the last few years,a number of human infection of avian influenza viruses were reported in China.Avian influenza has become an important threat to human health.Surveillance data from the agriculture department shows that H6 subtype influenza virus is an important avian influenza virus after H5 and H9 virus and it is increasing.Method In this study,seroprevalence of avian H6N6 virus in professional exposure populations is performed using approximately 15 000 sera collected for serology surveillance of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 between 2009 and 2011.This is the first time to conduct H6N6 serology investigation in mainland China.Result In this study,we found 10 positive sera samples that are from different exposure populations,including live poultry market worker,poultry farmer,backyard poultry farmer,butcher and nature reserve workers.From geographically point of view,these ten positive samples are from 8 provinces,located in North or South China.Conclusion This is the first time to report that human infect of avian influenza H6N6 virus in mainland China. Key words: Influenza A virus, avian;  Serology;  Occupational exposure