In-field detection and characterization of B/Victoria lineage deletion
variant viruses causing early influenza activity and an outbreak in
Louisiana, 2019
Abstract
In 2019, the Louisiana Department of Health reported an early influenza
B/Victoria (B/VIC) virus outbreak. As it was an atypically large
outbreak, we deployed to Louisiana to investigate it using genomics and
a triplex real-time RT-PCR assay to detect three antigenically distinct
B/VIC lineage variant viruses. The investigation indicated that B/VIC
V1A.3 subclade, containing a three amino acid deletion in the
hemagglutinin and known to be antigenically distinct to the
B/Colorado/06/2017 vaccine virus, was the most prevalent circulating
virus within the specimens tested. This work underscores the value of
portable diagnostics and sequencing platforms for rapid, onsite pathogen
characterization.