.
Suspect H5N1 in French Farm Turkey
Recombinomics Commentary
February 23, 2006
France has found a suspected case of H5N1 bird flu in a turkey on a farm, which if confirmed would be the country's first case of the virus in a domestic bird, the farm ministry said on Thursday.
The above comments add to the growing list of European farm birds suspected of being H5N1 positive. Austria has confirmed H5N1 in a farm chicken. Germany reported a positive farm duck, but has claimed later testing indicated the duck was not H5N1 positive. The basis for the reversal is unclear at this time. The suspect turkey in France will likely be H5N1 positive. However, even if subsequent test failure to confirm H5N1, the influx of H5N1 from Africa in the upcoming weeks will almost certainly lead to H5N1 fatalities in farm birds.
The spread of H5N1 to farms is cause for concern. H5N1 sequences have polymorphisms from European swine, suggesting more infections on farms are likely. Dual infections of H1N1 positive swine can lead to the acquisition of G228S, which has been shown to increase the affinity for human receptors. Such an increase can produce more efficient transmission to humans, as was seen in Turkey when H5N1 acquired S227N.
Immunization of swine against H1N1 and H5N1 may be ablke to reduce the number of dual infections. Acquisition of G228S by H5N1 would likely lead to more efficient transmission of H5N1 to humans and is cause for concern.
Map
Media Sources