H5N1 Spread in West Bengal India
Recombinomics Commentary 12:34
January 15, 2008
A second outbreak has been detected in the district of South Dinajpur, also in West Bengal but not neighbouring the other outbreak, said Anisur Rahaman, state minister for animal resources.
Dead chickens and even a few crows and owls are strewn across the landscape, according to health officials and television news pictures.
The above comments describe the spread of H5N1 in India (see satellite map) and note the dead wild birds in the area, which is supported by video in news reports. Although H5N1 in wild birds in the area is likely, India has yet to detect H5N1 in wild birds, which is common in countries with poor surveillance programs.
Sequences released from the 2006 reported outbreaks are Qinghai strain (clade 2.2.3) and the proximity of northern India to Qinghai Lake and the migration of bar-headed geese from Qinghai Lake to the northern plains of India has been noted since 2005.
It is likely that the H5N1 in the current outbreaks is genetically linked to the outbreaks in Bangladesh, and are the Uva Lake strain (a sub-clade of clade 2.2.3).
Neither India nor Bangladesh have released sequences from the 2007 outbreaks. Sequence data from the current outbreaks would be useful.
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