Qinghai H5N1 Spread in the Czech Republic
Recombinomics Commentary
June 27, 2007
Bird flu was discovered at a broiler farm in Norin, east Bohemia, but the presence of the highly dangerous H5N1 strain has neither been confirmed nor disproved yet, Czech State Veterinary Administration spokesman Josef Duben told CTK today.
Norin is located four kilometres from Tisova where the first Czech case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu among bred poultry was revealed at a turkey farm last week.
Duben said that tests proved bird flu in 60 cases at the farm with 27,800 broilers. He said the broilers tested positive for the H5 strain and further tests are to show whether it is H5N1 or not.
The turkeys bred at Tisova got infected through hay litter, while the broilers allegedly got into indirect contact with a carrier of the virus, man or bird.
The above comments describe the spread of H5N1 to a second farm in the Czech Republic. The close proximity of the farm to the index farm suggests spread was via poor biosecurity.
Information on the sequences linked to this outbreak, as well as the status of H5N1 testing in suspect wild bird cases in the region would be useful.
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