Poultry to Human Passport: Cross-species Transmission of Zoonotic H7N9 Avian Influenza Virus to Humans

Abstract

Human infections with H7N9 avian influenza virus were first reported in the early spring of 2013, in the Yangtze-delta region of China. This virus subsequently caused five successive epidemic waves from 2013 to 2018 with highest reported cases in the last wave making this strain the most successful zoonosis influenza virus in humans in recent decades. No H7N9 human infections have been reported since 2019, probably because of the extensive vaccination of poultry. Although zoonoses of H7N9 and other subtypes of avian influenza viral infections remain rare, the virus could acquire sufficient mammalian adaptive mutations to allow it to cause a future influenza pandemic. Here, we summarize the main findings on viral and host factors affecting the interspecies transmission of the H7N9 avian influenza virus.