Fig. 1

Time-scaled phylogenetic and genetic analysis of clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 hemagglutinin (HA) amino acid sequences isolated from East Asia. (a) Time-scaled phylogenetic tree showing the evolutionary relationships of HA sequences of clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 viruses (n = 79) in East Asia collected between October 2021 and February 2023. The tree highlights two distinct branches, with one pattern presented in blue and the other in pink. (b) Comparison of the prevalence of specific amino acid residues at four distinct positions (90, 93, 125, and 193) between the viruses with the blue pattern and those with the pink pattern