Uvs Lake H5N1 Confirmed in Switzerland
Recombinomics Commentary 13:44
March 27, 2008
The H5N1 virus was detected in a wild duck on Lake Sempach, near Lucern
The duck shows no symptoms of the disease, said the office, adding that the detected virus is almost identical with those detected in Europe last year.
The above comments describe the confirmation of H5N1 in an asymptomatic wild duck in Switzerland. The detection marks a significant improvement over earlier surveillance when H5N1 was only found in dead or dying wild birds.
The description of the isolate indicates it is the Uvs Lake strain, which was first reported in Europe in the summer of 2007. It had been previously found in Kuwait in early 2007, South Korea in late 2006, and at Uvs Lake in Mongolia in the summer of 2006.
This new version of the Qinghai strain has become dominant in Europe since the summer of 2007. All published sequences in central and western Europe since the summer of 2007 have been the Uvs Lake strain.
Recent reports from southern Russia indicate wild bird migration has begun earlier this year and is underway. Therefore, more reports of H5N1 in Europe are expected.
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