Epidemiological study of people living in rural North Carolina for novel respiratory viruses

During the last 10 years, scientists have grown increasingly aware that emerging respiratory viruses are often zoonotic in their origin. These infections can originate from or be amplified in livestock. Less commonly recognized are instances when humans have transmitted their respiratory pathogens to animals (reverse zoonoses). Even with this knowledge of viral exchange at the human–livestock interface, few studies have been conducted to understand this cross‐over. In this pilot study, we examined persons with influenza‐like illness at an outpatient clinic for evidence of infection with novel zoonotic respiratory pathogens in rural North Carolina where there are dense swine and poultry farming. Environmental air sampling was also conducted. From July 2016 to March 2017, a total of 14 human subjects were enrolled and sampled, and 192 bioaerosol samples were collected. Of the 14 human subject samples molecularly tested, three (21.4%) were positive for influenza A, one (7.1%) for influenza B and one (7.1%) for human enterovirus. Of the 192 bioaerosol samples collected and tested by real‐time RT‐PCR or PCR, three (1.6%) were positive for influenza A and two (1.0%) for adenovirus. No evidence was found for novel zoonotic respiratory viruses.