TY - JOUR T1 - Genome Analysis Linking Recent European and African Influenza (H5N1) Viruses JF - Emerging Infectious DiseasesEmerg Infect Dis Y1 - 2007 A1 - Salzberg,Steven L. A1 - Kingsford, Carl A1 - Cattoli,Giovanni A1 - Spiro,David J. A1 - Janies,Daniel A. A1 - Aly,Mona Mehrez A1 - Brown,Ian H. A1 - Couacy-Hymann,Emmanuel A1 - De Mia,Gian Mario A1 - Dung,Do Huu A1 - Guercio,Annalisa A1 - Joannis,Tony A1 - Ali,Ali Safar Maken A1 - Osmani,Azizullah A1 - Padalino,Iolanda A1 - Saad,Magdi D. A1 - Savić,Vladimir A1 - Sengamalay,Naomi A. A1 - Yingst,Samuel A1 - Zaborsky,Jennifer A1 - Zorman-Rojs,Olga A1 - Ghedin,Elodie A1 - Capua,Ilaria AB - Although linked, these viruses are distinct from earlier outbreak strains., To better understand the ecology and epidemiology of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in its transcontinental spread, we sequenced and analyzed the complete genomes of 36 recent influenza A (H5N1) viruses collected from birds in Europe, northern Africa, and southeastern Asia. These sequences, among the first complete genomes of influenza (H5N1) viruses outside Asia, clearly depict the lineages now infecting wild and domestic birds in Europe and Africa and show the relationships among these isolates and other strains affecting both birds and humans. The isolates fall into 3 distinct lineages, 1 of which contains all known non-Asian isolates. This new Euro-African lineage, which was the cause of several recent (2006) fatal human infections in Egypt and Iraq, has been introduced at least 3 times into the European-African region and has split into 3 distinct, independently evolving sublineages. One isolate provides evidence that 2 of these sublineages have recently reassorted. VL - 13 SN - 1080-6040 CP - 5 M3 - 10.3201/eid1305.070013 ER -