Poultry Deaths in Northern and Southern Pakistan
Recombinomics Commentary 23:45
February 4, 2008
more than two thousand chickens brought from Hyderabad died in Mangora, Swat. The Tehsil Municipal Authority Mangora, on the public complaint, while taking quick action took into custody the owner of chickens Sher Ali and sent specimen of the dead chickens to laboratory to check for bird flu.
In Punjab five thousand chickens perished due to bird flu virus in village Moor Charwan in Hujra Shah Moqeem at the poultry form of Pir Aftab Shah.
The above comments describe more poultry deaths in Pakistan. Some of the deaths are in the south, near confirmed cases in suburban Karachi (see satellite maps here and here), while the other is in the north, in the general area of earlier outbreaks and near the hospital with the suspect patient.
The situation in Pakistan is far from clear. Media reports describe more poultry deaths and one report cites 132 hospitalized patients in Peshawar (although it should indicate there are 132 beds available at the hospitals in Peshawar).
There were significant delays in the reporting of the earlier human cases in the northwest and media reports did not appear until the second patient died. WHO became aware of the situation via internet posts, so the current conflicting reports are not surprising.
The situation in India is also far from clear. H5N1 spread has exploded in Bangladesh, while India maintains the situation in West Bengal is stabilizing. Testing of wild birds and patients is minimal, and the track record for detecting H5N1 in either group remains abysmal, with zero reports of positives.
More detail from either country would be useful.
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