Pandemic Risk Assessment for Swine Influenza A Virus in Comparative In Vitro and In Vivo Models

Viruses. 2024 Mar 31;16(4):548. doi: 10.3390/v16040548.

Abstract

Swine influenza A viruses pose a public health concern as novel and circulating strains occasionally spill over into human hosts, with the potential to cause disease. Crucial to preempting these events is the use of a threat assessment framework for human populations. However, established guidelines do not specify which animal models or in vitro substrates should be used. We completed an assessment of a contemporary swine influenza isolate, A/swine/GA/A27480/2019 (H1N2), using animal models and human cell substrates. Infection studies in vivo revealed high replicative ability and a pathogenic phenotype in the swine host, with replication corresponding to a complementary study performed in swine primary respiratory epithelial cells. However, replication was limited in human primary cell substrates. This contrasted with our findings in the Calu-3 cell line, which demonstrated a replication profile on par with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus. These data suggest that the selection of models is important for meaningful risk assessment.

Keywords: animal; epithelial cells; ferrets; humans; influenza A virus; mice; models; pandemics; risk assessment; swine; whole genome sequencing.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Dogs
  • Epithelial Cells / virology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype* / physiology
  • Influenza A Virus, H1N2 Subtype / genetics
  • Influenza, Human* / epidemiology
  • Influenza, Human* / virology
  • Mice
  • Orthomyxoviridae Infections* / virology
  • Pandemics
  • Risk Assessment
  • Swine
  • Swine Diseases / virology
  • Virus Replication*