Alarming Spread of H5N1 in Southern West Bengal
Recombinomics Commentary 17:44
January 28, 2008
In West Midnapore, where the avian influenza affected only one village on Sunday, the disease spread to 107 villages in Debra block, District Magistrate N S Nigam said.
The above comments on H5N1 spread in southern West Bengal are alarming. The site of the spread is near the Orissa border (see satellite maps here and here) and suspect cases and activity in Orissa has been noted.
In addition to this activity in southern West Bengal, increases in activity in southern Bangladesh have also been noted in recent days. The massive die offs of crows in West Bengal and Bangladesh suggest control of the H5N1 spread will be difficult.
In addition to wild and domestic poultry deaths, there have also been reports of deaths in the regions reporting the highest H5N1 activity. There have been media reports of goat deaths at multiple sites in Birbhum and Murshidabad in addition to suspect human cases. There have also been reports of fish and cattle die offs in the south, including West Midnapore.
Culling operations are trailing H5N1 reports, as indicated by the outbreak noted above in the Debra block. Testing has been minimal, which has limited reports of confirmed H5N1. However, H5N1 spread is not dependent on official confirmations, and excessive poultry deaths in surrounding areas continue to increase.
More aggressive testing and reporting would be useful. The excessive exposure of villagers to confirmed H5N1 raises serious questions about the lack of reported human cases.
Media Links
Recombinomics Presentations
Recombinomics Publications
Recombinomics Paper at Nature Precedings