Likely H5N1 on South Korean Farm
Recombinomics Commentary 16:48
April 2, 2008
The chickens in the suspected farm showed inappetence and drowsiness and the fatality slowly increased from 29 March.
On 1 April, about 1,000 chickens were found dead, so the owner notified it to the local Veterinary Services.
On 1 April, a preliminary test was conducted at the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service and antibodies to avian influenza virus subtype H5 were detected.
The final diagnosis including pathogenicity index (HPAI or LPAI) is pending.
The above comments in the OIE report filed by South Korea, suggest that the H5 detected will be H5N1. Although the title of the report includes low path avian influenza, the deaths of 1000 in 1 or 2 days suggests that the H5 antobodies will signal H5N1 infections.
Although the farm has 150,000, the short time frame between symptoms and recent deaths suggest that the virus has not had time to spread extensively.
Detection of H5N1 in this remote area would not be a surprise. South Korea lies on a migratory bird pathway, and the H5N1 detected at the end of 2006 was closely related to the Uvs Lake strain associated with the massive wild bird outbreak in the summer of 2006. Moreover, H5N1 was found in feces from areas frequented by wild birds.
Therefore, this outbreak is likely linked to wild birds migrating back to regions in northern Mongolia or southern Siberia.
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