Qinghai H5N1 in Saxony in Eastern Germany
Recombinomics Commentary
June 26, 2007
Three dead swans were discovered in glad castle south of Leipzig, reported the Saxonian Ministry of Health. A first test proved the dangerous bird flu virus H5N1.
The above comments describe a second wild bird outbreak in Germany which is in eastern Germany, and significantly north of the outbreak in Nuremberg. Sequence data has not been released, but the location may indicate the sequence will be more closely related to clade 2.2.2.1 which was found last season in northern Germany, near the Baltic sea. This was the largest outbreak in Western Europe, and it is likely that a wild bird reservoir for this sub-clade is also endemic to the region.
Media reports indicate sequences from Nuremberg are closely related to 2005/2006 sequences, but do not match recent sequences from Hungary or the Czech Republic.
More information on the three swans described above. If these are mute swans, which appears to be the case for the swans in Nuremberg, it is more likely that the H5N1 is endemic, since mute swans are not migratory.
The finding of H5N1 in two distinct regions of Germany in June, further supports an established reservoir in western Europe. More information on the suspect wild bird cases in the Czech Republic, as well as an increased surveillance in northern Germany would be useful.
Most of the sequences from European isolates collected at Weybridge have still not been released at Genbank. These sequences will be important for mapping polymophisms and acquisition routes, which can be used to predict emerging clade 2.2 sequences.
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