More H5N1 Wild Bird Confirmations in Nuremberg Germany
Recombinomics Commentary
June 29, 2007
A comparison of parts of the hereditary property of the bird flu viruses of the type H5N1 Asia from Saxonia, Bavaria and the Czech republic resulted in a high similarity. "with the fact it is certain that all three outbreaks decrease/go back, explained to a common origin" Bundesinstitut. The number of the cases of bird flu in Nuernberg rose meanwhile to nine. With on Thursday a swan found at the Woehrder lake was likewise proven the H5N1-Virus, how the Bavarian national office for health and food security (LGL) communicated in attaining. The animal is sent to further tests to Friedrich Loeffler Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.
The above translation indicates the number of H5N1 positive birds in Nuremberg has increased to nine. The first six were described in an OIE report. They were found on two lakes in Nuremberg. These new positives, including one on Thursday increase the data, supporting an H5N1 reservoir in western Europe. In addition to these nine confirmed positives, there are three more in Saxony as well as two infected farms in northern Czech Republic and at least one confirmed swan in southern Czech Republic. Both locations in the Czech Republic are close to bordering countries. The northern outbreak is near Poland, while the southern outbreak is near Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary.
Thus, the detection of H5N1 is increasing in numbers and geographical reach within western Europe. The above translation also clarifies the common origin, which is wild birds infected with Qinghai clade 2.2. Like the outbreaks in 2006, these sequences form a number of sub-clades signaling independent introductions, a characteristic of infections by wild birds, Although the isolates have regional markers, they still segregate into sub-clades within a given region.
It is likely that these isolates have regional markers from last season. This was seen in other 2007 isolates. Those in the suburbs of Moscow were most like the earlier isolates from Azerbaijan. In Egypt, the recent isolates had the regional markers defined by 2006 isolates in Egypt, Israel, Gaza, and Djibouti. However the recent isolates were more genetically more diverse and more complex than the previous year. Many of the newly acquired polymorphisms were in Germany or Austria in 2006 include one polymorphism that was concurrently appended to H5n1 genes in Russia, Egypt, and Ghana. It is likely that the new isolates in Kuwait, Germany, and the Czech Republic followed the same evolutionary trend, which can be confirmed by polymorphisms tracing.
These tracing can be quickly generated if the sequences are released. As the sequence database grows, the precise evolutionary paths become easier to define. Therefore release of the sequences from the existing isolates, and an increased surveillance in Germany, the Czech Republic, and neighboring countries would be useful. It is likely that all countries which had H5N1 infections in 2006 will have H5N1 in 2007. Moreover, it is also likely that countries adjacent to those which detected H5N1 will also have H5N1, even if not detected in 2006 or 2007.
The H5N1 in wild birds in Europe has not disappeared. It is present, although detection has been sporadic and limited to dead or dying birds. The failure to detect H5N1 in live wild birds signals a surveillance failure, and the recent positives should provide an incentive for increasing surveillance to adequately monitor the evolution of H5N1 in the area, and generate a better understanding of the evolution and migration routes of individual polymorphisms.
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