I think this article by CIDRAP is referencing the same finding.
Chinese researchers report new H7N2 avian flu virusAn H7N2
avian flu virus isolated from the farm of a Chinese man who had
contracted H7N9 avian flu is a novel reassortant of H7N9 and H9N2
viruses, Chinese researchers reported yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. In
February of this year the team sampled 60 of 500 chicken's on the
patient's farm in Jilin province and 50 from neighboring flocks and
collected 36 fecal samples from the patient's farm and neighboring
flocks. From cloacal (anal) samples taken from birds on the patient's
farm they isolated an H9N2 and an H7N2 virus. The scientists found
that the H7N2 virus derived its HA, PB2, PB1, PA, NP, and M genes from
the H7N9 virus that emerged in China last year, and they said its NA and
NS genes were closely related to the H9N2 virus isolated on the same
farm. They observed the chickens for 10 days, and none showed
signs of disease. Mice inoculated with the H7N2 virus all survived but
showed signs of weight loss. The authors wrote, "Although we did
not find any H7N9 viruses in chickens during this investigation, the
fact that the owner of the chickens was infected with an H7N9 virus
indicates that H7N9 viruses might have circulated among these chickens."
They did, however, find high levels of antibodies to H7 in the
chickens. They conclude, "The nonpathogenic nature of H7 viruses
in poultry enables them to replicate silently in birds. The high
positive ratio of antibody against H7 viruses detected by
hemagglutination assay and the huge diversity of antibody levels among
chickens from the H7N9 patient's farm demonstrate that the H7 viruses
might have been introduced and circulated in these birds for several
weeks before they were detected."
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/flu-scan-sep-05-2014 - http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/flu-scan-sep-05-2014
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