Suspect H5N1 in Tripura India
Recombinomics Commentary 18:02
April 2, 2008
About 3,000 birds, including poultry fowl, have died due to some mysterious disease during the past one week in Tripura, officials said here Wednesday.
Villagers said more than 3,000 chickens, ducks, crows and other birds have first fallen sick and then died at bordering Kamalpur, 160 km north of here.
"Several dogs and five jackals, which had consumed the affected birds, were also found dead," the villagers said.
"We don't think the birds have died of bird flu. We suspect it to be Ranikhet disease.
Earlier, the detection of the H5N1 virus in chickens at the small poultry farms in Moulabibazar district of Bangladesh, opposite to Kamalpur, had prompted the Tripura government to take measures, including sealing of borders, to stop the movement of poultry and poultry products between the two countries.
The above comments describe a likely H5N1 outbreak in Tripura, east of Bangladesh. As noted, H5N1 has been reported across the border in Bangladesh, and border sealing would do little to prevent the spread of H5N1 by wild birds, including crows. Although India has never reported H5N1 in any wild bird, Bangladesh has confirmed H5N1 in crows near poultry outbreaks.
Similarly, the death of dogs and jackals also suggest that the deaths are linked to H5N1 rather than Newcastle Disease.
Although the spread of H5N1 to Tripura would not be a surprise, it has never been reported there previously.
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