H5N1 Spread in Southern Tibet
Recombinomics Commentary 10:35
February 19, 2008
Chinese authorities have confirmed a new bird flu outbreak among poultry in Tibet, the second case of this year in the southwestern region, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
A ministry statement said that 132 poultry had died in the epidemic in a village outside the regional capital, Lhasa, since it started on Feb. 6, while another 7,698 have been culled.
The above comments describe confirmed H5N1 in Tibet, near Lhasa (see satellite map here and here). These outbreaks are just north of the outbreaks in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Although Bangladesh has been reporting multiple H5N1 outbreaks on a daily basis, India maintains that H5N1 in West Bengal has been controlled by an extensive culling program involving almost 4 million birds in West Bengal and bordering regions. However, these bordering regions, as well as the remainder of India, are said to be H5N1 negative.
In addition to the H5N1 in Tibet and West Bengal, Pakistan has reported H5N1 near Karachi as well as the North West Frontier Province.
The multiple outbreaks in region surround most of India raise serious questions about the reported absence of H5N1 in neighboring districts inside and outside of India.
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