H5 Confirmed in Shpol Ukraine
Recombinomics Commentary 14:00
April 19, 2008
The death of 2 thousand 118 birds recorded in the city of Cherkassy Shpola area within Ltd. "Agro-Ros" in the period from 13 to 17 April, reported Interfax-Ukraine with reference to the press service of Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations.
According to the press service, in highly selected patmateriale bird flu (to the DNA-A influenza virus serotype N5) has been detected, according to the records of the results of research Express Cherkassy Regional State Laboratory of Veterinary Medicine.
The above translation indicates that H5 has been detected at the poultry processing plant in Shopla, Ukraine (see satellite map). Detection of H5 among the 2000 dead birds signals H5N1. This result is not unexpected. Ukraine reported H5N1 earlier this year, and the released partial sequence was closely related to Uvs Lake isolates, which have been reported throughout Europe since the summer of 2007.
Moreover, as birds migrate to the north, more interactions with domestic poultry are expected. Detection at poultry farms or processing plants also signals a surveillance failure. H5N1 is clearly widespread in wild bird populations in Europe, but are not being reported by surveillance programs. Recent H5N1 outbreaks in Turkey were linked to feeding of wild bird intestines to domestic poultry. Similar results were found in southeastern Russia in Primosky recently, as wild birds begin migration throughout Europe and Asia.
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