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H5N1 Suspected in Katsina Near Niger Border
Recombinomics Commentary
February 10, 2006
The northern Nigerian state of Katsina has closed a farm following a suspected outbreak of bird flu, the state commissioner for agriculture, Alhaji Ali Dutsin-Ma,said on Friday.
More than 1,100 chickens have been killed and buried to avoid the spread of the disease at the Nasiha poultry farm in the state capital Katsina
The above comments suggest H5N1 has infected birds in the northern city of Katsina, which is a few mile from the border with Niger (see map). Earlier reports indicated H5N1 was at the southern coastal city of Lagos, which is in the East Atlantic Flyway. Thus, H5N1 is suspected in regions from the north to the south in Nigeria, strongly suggesting that H5N1 is in neighboring countries.
The H5N1 strain in Nigeria is the Qinghai strain, indicating it migrated to Nigeria from the Middle East. H5N1 infections are likely to be present throughout the Middle East, as well as in most African countries just north of the equator.
The failure of these countries to detect ir report H5N1 is cause for concern. The outbreak in Nigeria began January 10, so regions to the east would have had H5N1 even longer. The H5N1 spreads through domestic poultry as well as resident wild birds, and soon becomes endemic to the region. The failure to report and cull infected birds leads to more infections and more recombination.
The movement of H5N1 via migratory birds has been clear since mid-July when H5N1 was identified at Chany Lake, which was a predictable event based on the H5N1 identified at Qinghai Lake. This very predictable expansion and clear lack of reporting in affected countries for this extended time period is cause for additional concern as countries in the Middle East and Africa continue to deny the presence of H5N1.
Similarly, the denial by India and neighbors is cause for concern, because they lie in the central Asia Flyway, which also clearly transmits and transports H5N1 via migratory birds.
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