Figure 1. Molecular changes associated with emergence of a highly pathogenic H5N2 influenza virus in chickens in Mexico. In 1994, a nonpathogenic H5N2 influenza virus in Mexican chickens was related to an H5N2 virus isolated from shorebirds (ruddy turnstones) in Delaware Bay, United States, in 1991. The 1994 H5N2 isolates from chickens replicated mainly in the respiratory tract, spread rapidly among chickens, and were not highly pathogenic. Over the next year the virus became highly pathogenic, and the hemagglutinin acquired an insert of two basic amino acids (Arg-Lys), possibly by classic recombination and a mutation of Glu to Lys at position 3 from the cleavage site of HA1/HA2.

Figure 2. The emergence of H5N1 influenza in Hong Kong. It is postulated that a nonpathogenic H5N1 influenza spread from migrating shorebirds to ducks by fecal contamination of water. The virus was transmitted to chickens and became established in live bird markets in Hong Kong. During transmission between different species, the virus became highly pathogenic for chickens and occasionally was transmitted to humans from chickens in the markets. Despite high pathogenicity for chickens (and humans), H5N1 were nonpathogenic for ducks and geese.