| Biological Significance |
H3N2 is a subtype of the influenza A virus. Its name derives from the forms of the two kinds of proteins on the surface of its coat, hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). H3N2 viruses can infect birds and mammals. Discovered in 2007 in Missouri pigs, H3N2 has a combination of genes from avian and swine flu viruses, supporting the theory that pigs can serve as a mixing vessel for flu viruses and a potential source for a human pandemic strain. |
| Implications in Disease |
According to studies published in PNAS, researchers found that the H3N2 virus caused illness in experimentally infected mice and was transmissible in swine and ferrets, suggesting it has adapted to mammals. |
| Sequence Information |
Influenza A viruses are negative-sense, single-stranded, segmented RNA viruses. The several subtypes are labeled according to an H number (for the type of hemagglutinin) and an N number (for the type of neuraminidase). There are 18 different known H antigens (H1 to H18) and 11 different known N antigens (N1 to N11). |