Emergence and adaptation of H3N2 canine influenza virus from avian influenza virus: An overlooked role of dogs in interspecies transmission

H3N2 canine influenza virus (CIV) originated from avian species and emerged in dogs in Asia around 2005 where it became enzootic before reaching the USA in 2015. To investigate the key aspects of the evolution of H3N2 CIV regarding its emergence and adaptation in the canine host, we conducted an extensive analysis of all publicly available H3N2 CIV sequences spanning a 10-year period. We believe that H3N2 AIVs transferred to canines around 2002-2004. Furthermore, H3N2 CIVs could be divided into seven major clades with strong geographic clustering and some changed sites evidence of adaptive evolution. Most notably, the dN/dS of each H3N2 CIVs segment was higher than the correspondent of H3N2 AIVs and the U content of HA and NA was increasing over time, suggesting the idea that this avian-origin virus may be gradually adapting to the host. Our results provide a framework to elucidate a general mechanism for emergence of novel influenza viruses.