H5N1 Confirmed in West Bengal India
Recombinomics Commentary 23:20
January 14, 2008
We have been informed that, after primary screening, H5N1 virus has been identified.
On Sunday evening, the Bhopal lab sent a message to the state government confirming the presence of the bird flue virus.
The district's chief medical officer of health (CMOH), Sunil Kumar Bhowmick, said: "Preliminary tests have confirmed that this is bird flu. It has already been reported to the district administration. An isolation ward has been opened in Rampurhat hospital.
The above comments indicate H5N1 has been confirmed in West Bengal, India (see satellite map). Although some media reports cite six more days for confirmation, it seems likely that the six days are for a pathogenicity test. However, Qinghai H5N1 generally kills all experimentally infected birds in 1-2 days, so the test is completed quickly.
However, sequencing of the HA cleavage site is sufficient to determine that H5 is high path, as well as determine the strain. The Qinghai strain, and the Uva Lake derivative, has a characteristic cleavage site of GERRRKKR.
The large number of dead birds, coupled with ongoing H5N1 outbreaks in adjacent Bangladesh, indicated H5N1 was the cause of poultry deaths prior to testing.
The continued spread of H5N1 was suggested by the large number of outbreaks in the fall.
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