SURVEY OF ARCTIC ALASKAN WILDLIFE FOR INFLUENZA A ANTIBODIES: LIMITED EVIDENCE FOR EXPOSURE OF MAMMALS.

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are maintained in wild waterbirds and have the potential to infect a broad range of species, including wild mammals. The Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska supports a diverse suite of species, including waterfowl that are common hosts of IAVs. Mammals co-occur with geese and other migratory waterbirds during the summer breeding season, providing a plausible mechanism for interclass transmission of IAVs. To estimate IAV seroprevalence and identify the subtypes to which geese, loons, Arctic foxes ( Vulpes lagopus), caribou ( Rangifer tarandus), and polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) are potentially exposed, we used a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bELISA) and a hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay to screen for antibodies to IAVs in samples collected during spring and summer of 2012-16. Apparent IAV seroprevalence using the bELISA was 50.3% in geese (range by species: 46-52.8%), 9% in loons (range by species: 3-20%), and 0.4% in Arctic foxes. We found no evidence for exposure to IAVs in polar bears or caribou by either assay. Among geese, we estimated detection probability from replicate bELISA analyses to be 0.92 and also found good concordance (>85%) between results from bELISA and HI assays, which identified antibodies reactive to H1, H6, and H9 subtype IAVs. In contrast, the HI assay detected antibodies in only one of seven loon samples that were positive by bELISA; that sample had low titers to both H4 and H5 IAV subtypes. Our results provide evidence that a relatively high proportion of waterbirds breeding on the Arctic Coastal Plain are exposed to IAVs, although it is unknown whether such exposure occurs locally or on staging or wintering grounds. In contrast, seroprevalence of IAVs in concomitant Arctic mammals is apparently low.

Neisseria arctica sp. nov., isolated from nonviable eggs of greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) in Arctic Alaska.

During the summers of 2013 and 2014, isolates of a novel Gram-stain-negative coccus in the genus Neisseriawere obtained from the contents of nonviable greater white-fronted goose (Anseralbifrons) eggs on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. We used a polyphasic approach to determine whether these isolates represent a novel species. 16S rRNA gene sequences, 23S rRNA gene sequences, and chaperonin 60 gene sequences suggested that these Alaskan isolates are members of a distinct species that is most closely related to Neisseria canis, Neisseriaanimaloris and Neisseriashayeganii. Analysis of the rplF gene additionally showed that the isolates are unique and most closely related to Neisseriaweaveri. Average nucleotide identity of the whole genome sequence of the type strain was between 71.5 and 74.6 % compared to close relatives, further supporting designation as a novel species. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis showed a predominance of C14 : 0, C16 : 0 and C16 : 1ω7c fatty acids. Finally, biochemical characteristics distinguished the isolates from other species of the genus Neisseria. On the basis of these combined data, the isolates are proposed to represent a novel species of the genus Neisseria, with the name Neisseria arctica sp. nov. The type strain is KH1503T (=ATCC TSD-57T=DSM 103136T).