In Mongolia, influenza B viruses actively circulated since 2007. We have done HA gene sequence analyses of the representative B strains which isolated between 2007-2012 in Mongolia. All sequences have been uploaded into GenBank and GISAID (Tables 1 and 2). There were co circulated B/Yamagata/16/88 and B/Victoria/2/57-like viruses in 2007/2008 and B/Victoria/2/57-like lineages predominated in 2011 and 2012. The majority of Mongolian B strains (B/Ulaanbaatar/0063/2012; B/Selenge/1099/2012; B/Ulaanbaatar/1128/2012) isolated between January to March, 2012 are belonged to the B/Brisbane/60/2008 (Victoria lineage) genetic clade (Figure1). Further analysis of evolution HA gene of B viruses is in progress.

Figure 1. Phylogenetic trees for the HA gene of B viruses

In the first quarter of 2012 three articles by our NIC, Mongolia team in collaboration with our Japanese and Australian collaborators published in the international peer-reviewed journals:

• A.Burmaa et al . (2012): Cumulative incidence of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)2009 by a community-based serological cohort study in Selenghe Province in Mongolia, Influenza and other Respiratory Viruses, DOI:10.1111/j.1750-2659.2012.00334x;
• N.Nukiwa-Souma et al . (2012): Influenza transmission in a community during a seasonal influenza A(H3N2) outbreak (2010-2011) in Mongolia: a community-based prospective cohort study, PLoS ONE, 7(3);e33046;
• K.J.Bolton et al . (2012): Likely effectiveness of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions for mitigating influenza virus transmission in Mongolia, Bull.WHO, 90:264-271; doi:10.2471/BLT.11.093419;

You can read the full copies of the articles clicking on the authors names.

Virologists of NIC, Mongolia have fully sequenced the HA gene of a new strain B/Ulaanbaatar/0063/2012, collected on 4th of January and submitted it into GenBank on February 21, 2012. It has been released by GenBank under the accession number CY110755.

This was the first submission of HA gene sequence of influenza virus in 2012 by our researchers. Influenza B virus has been isolated on MDCK cell culture and the full sequencing of HA gene of which shows it belongs to B/Victoria lineage (B/Brisbane/60/2008-like).