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H5N1 Suspected in Mauritania
Recombinomics Commentary
February 17, 2006
Several suspicious deaths of poultry have been reported over the past few days in the Mauritanian locality of Toufdé-Civet, Kaedi region, within the Senegal River basin, official sources said here Monday.
The deaths reported near the Mauritanian border with Senegal and two nearby villages, the sources said, adding that a joint delegation from the ministries of health and of rural development and environment, visited the area at the weekend.
The team, which took samples of blood and organs, also helped to slaughter and incinerate scores of chickens in the area, the sources said, explaining that the samples were taken for analysis in Dakar, Senegal.
The above comments suggest H5N1 is in Mauritania and possibly Senegal. This region is in the East Atlantic Flyway and the increased reporting of H5N1 in western Europe suggest H5N1 migrated out of northern Siberia, through western Europe, and down the East Atlantic Flyway. This migration may have contributed to H5N1 infections in Mauritania and Senegal.
The increased number of confirmed H5N1 infections in the Middle East and other countries in Africa, such as Egypt, and Nigeria, where infections are widespread, further suggests the number of H5N1 positive migrating birds in the fall was significant.
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