Dead Goats in Midnapore West Bengal Increase Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 22:36
January 29, 2008
In Midnapore town, there was panic after seven goats dropped dead. The owner claimed he had buried the animals but couldn't show the burial place raising fear that the infected meat was sold.
The above comments raise additional concerns about H5N1 jumping to mammalian species, including goats. The goat deaths are following a pattern (see satellite map here and here). After H5N1 arrives and rapidly spreads through multiple villages, humans and goats develop bird flu symptoms. In the goats, the symptoms are associated with pneumonia and death. There have been reports of hundreds of goats dying in Birbhum as well as two locations in Murshidabad. Now the pattern is repeated in Midnapore, where H5N1 rapidly spread to 107 villages, virtually overnight.
After government announcements of control, there are new outbreaks reported. The latest involved thousands of chickens at a poultry farm in North 24 Parganas. Culling was order, even though H5N1 confirmation from Bhopal had not been received. The H5N1 is spreading rapidly, and outpacing the limited and slow testing.
The confidence in the testing continues to decline. Although patients are said to be negative, the linkage of suspect cases to massive domestic and wild bird deaths continues to suggest that H5N1 infections are significantly greater than stated in official reports.
The latest positives in North 24 Parganas add yet another Calcutta suburb with confirmed H5N1 or excessive poultry deaths. The infections in wild birds suggest efforts to keep H5N1 from spreading in Calcutta will fail, and testing thus far raises additional pandemic concerns.
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