Commentary
H5N1 Re-emerges in Northwest Pakistan
Recombinomics Commentary 18:19
June 22, 2008
Tests conducted at a government-run laboratory in Islamabad confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a farm in Swabi district
"The virus was detected after the owner of the farm informed us on Friday that some 4,000 birds had died within the past few days," he said.
"We got the confirmation on Saturday, sealed the farm and culled around 2,000 birds," he said.
All workers on the affected farm were examined by the ministry of health but none was found to have been affected by the virus, he added.
The above comments describe a new H5N1 outbreak in Pakistan (see satellite map). Although the above comments note that no farm workers had symptoms, disease onset dates are usually 2-4 days after exposure, so the above clearance may be premature.
The location is near the human outbreak that began in October, 2007, but was not reported until December. Three brothers were H5N1 confirmed and the familial cluster defined human to human to human transmission.
More information on the health of the workers in upcoming days, more data on neighboring farms, and sequence information would be useful.
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