Taiwan Deposits 3 Sequences Today: 206T found in 7 of 8 Taiwan Samples on File, 296H in the 8th.

Taiwan has 8 PF11 sequences on file at GenBank from mid-May to June 2009 across a somewhat representative sample of host ages (5, 19, 22, 24, 27, 32, 32 and 52).

The 3 new sequences today, sampled in June, continue the local trend of 206T conservation on Hemagglutinin. 7 of the 8 Taiwan sequences on file carry the Threonine at 206.

Of special interest is the 8th sequence, A/Taiwan/T1773, submitted on 2009-08-10 from a 19F sampled in late May showing 206S and the only 296H in Taiwan, demonstrating again the intra-segment exclusivity of 296H and 206T. Though geographic and timing consensus is 206T in Taiwan, the 206S in the 19F appears with the 296H.

TaiwanT1773 also demonstrates the strong pairing between 296H and the 2E originally found in 1918 sequences and now several PF11 HA segments.

The TaiwanT1773 sequence matches Finland555 and its 19 equal worldwide sequences (NE US, Italy and Brasil) but for the disquieting combination SNP and downstream adjacent deletion near the tail of the HA. Furthermore, the TaiwanT1773 sequence is distinct at a different position from each of other regional 296H carriers, e.g. Shanghai143T, Tokushima1, and Shandong1.

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