H5N1 Confirmed in Wild Birds in Germany
Recombinomics Commentary
June 23, 2007
BERLIN: Authorities posted caution signs around two Bavarian lakes on Saturday after seven dead birds tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, the first cases reported in Germany this year.
Nuremberg city authorities warned people to keep their dogs leashed and stay away from waterfowl after five swans, one duck and one goose all tested positive for H5N1.
The above comments confirm H5N1 infections in wild birds in southern Germany. These deaths are likely linked to the dead wild birds in the Czech Republic, as well as the dead farm turkeys, which also have been confirmed to be H5N1 infected.
H5N1 infections in wild birds in western Europe is not a surprise, although Ilaria Cupa decared wild birds to be largely H5N1 free at the Options IV meeting in Toronto this week. Her comments were based on false negatives in wild bird testing in Europe and Africa. These agencies have yet to detect H5N1 in a live wild bird, although H5N1 has been detected in dead wild birds from the same regions.
Today’s confirmation supports the spread and evolution of H5N1 throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as government agencies continue to not report such spread.
Now the infections are spilling over into dead poultry in the Czech Republic, Ghana, and Togo, as well as human infections in Egypt.
The sequences of the H5N1 in Germany will be of interest. In February, 2006 H5N1 was widespread in wild birds in Germany. Most of the more than 700 positive birds in Europe were from Germany and most positives were from mute swans. Sequence analysis of these isolates defined three sub-clades. One sub-clade had several polymorphisms that were shared with isolates in southern Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Egypt. Another had polymorphisms that first appeared in Egypt in the 2006/2007 season. The third sub-clade was largely confined to northern Germany and Denmark.
The current confirmations suggest H5N1 is in wild birds in the Czech Republic and Italy. Serious surveillance in those areas would be useful.
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