H5N1 Alert in Uttarakhand India
Recombinomics Commentary 16:29
February 3, 2008
Uttarakhand Health Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said an alert has been issued following death of some birds in Dehradun.
The above comments on suspect H5N1 in Uttarakhand adds to the incidents of excessive birds deaths in the region (see satellite maps here and here). Although recent H5N1 confirmation has been limited to southern Pakistan, West Bengal, and Bangladesh, the number of suspect outbreaks continues to grow.
Last year there were multiple outbreaks in northwestern Pakistan, and the entire country has been placed on high alert after patients in the Karachi and Peshawar areas have been placed in isolation.
The large number of outbreaks in West Bengal and Bangladesh suggest unreported H5N1 in neighboring regions is common. H5N1 has been confirmed in crows in Bangaldesh and Pakistan. India’s failure to report H5N1 positives in dead birds found in association with H5N1 positive poultry raises serious testing and transparency issues.
India has never reported H5N1 in wild birds or patients, although H5N1 antibodies were found in serum samples collected in 2002 from poultry workers. Similarly, highly suspect cases in western India in 2006 tested negative as have all test on migratory birds.
Independent testing of samples from suspect birds, including resident and migratory birds and suspect patients would be useful.
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