Qinghai H5N1 in Wild Birds in the Czech Republic?
Recombinomics Commentary
June 24, 2007
According to the latest news, another four wild birds, which were suspicious of bird flu, were found near Litomysl in east of the Czech republic.
The above comments strongly suggest that wild birds in the Czech Republic are also H5N1 positive. Litomysl is just east of Tisova, the location of the turkey farm infected with H5N1. After 1800 turkeys died, the remaining 4200 turkeys were culled. Infections of wild birds in the Czech Republic would not be a surprise.
This weekend H5N1 infections in six wild birds were confirmed in Bavaria. Another five dead birds are being tested. The positives include a duck and several swans. Detection of H5N1 in wild bird populations in June highlights the surveillance shortfalls in Western Europe. In Germany, the last report of H5N1 was in birds in the Dresden zoo, a year ago. In addition to the zoo, dead or dying wild birds throughout Germany tested positive for H5N1 in February, 2006. The sequences from these birds fell into three sub-clades. Clade 2.2.2.2 included isolates from Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, and the Ukraine. A larger group of isolates from Bavaria fell into sub-clade 2.2.2.3.
It is likely that the isolates in the Czech Republic and Bavaria this year will include isolates in clade 2.2.2.2 and/or 2.2.2.3 because H5N1 has become endemic in wild bird populations in Western Europe, including Bavaria and the Czech Republic.
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