H5N1 Re-emerges in Iraq
Recombinomics Commentary 19:04
March 2, 2008
A case of Bird Flu has been discovered on Sunday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
An Iraqi higher committee Secretariat in combating Bird Flu from the Iraqi cabinet council said the new discovery is in Al-Fedagiya village in the Fao area.
The above comments suggest H5N1 has been identified in southern Iraq. The location is close to Kuwait (see satellite map), where there was an H5N1 outbreak a year ago. The sequences from that outbreak were recently released and were clade 2.2.3 which traced back to the Uvs Lake outbreak. Recently an H5N1 HA and NA sequences were published from the more recent outbreak in Saudi Arabia. Those sequences are also closely related to the earlier sequences from Kuwait.
Therefore, it is likely that the H5N1 will be closely related to these sequences and reflect increased H5N1 activity in the region. Iran has also recently reported H5N1 to the north, along the shores of the Caspian Sea.
This is the first confirmed outbreak in Iraq since 2006.
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