H5N1 Positive Grebe in Machern Saxony in Germany
Recombinomics Commentary
July 8, 2007
A dead hood diver found in a waters with Machern was tested positively on the virus, said a speaker of the Ministry of Health and confirmed a report of the "Leipziger people newspaper". However still stand the official confirmation by Friedrich Loeffler Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut on the island Riems.
The above translation describes another laboratory confirmed wild bird in Saxony. It is another grebe (Posiceps cristatus), which along with another grebe species (Podiceps nigricollis), have also been reported in neighboring Thuringen and Saxony-Anhalt.. Although the initial positives were in Nurmenburg in swans and geese, the number of positives has grown markedly in recent days with the discovery of over 200 dead birds in Kelbra Lake. Media reports indicate additional dead birds on the lake are being collected today. The vast majority of these birds are the two grebe species above and 153 have been laboratory confirmed H5N1.
The confirmed cases in July, 2007 are markedly different than the reported cases in early 2006. As seen on the map of outbreaks through Match, 2007, the cases were generally at the extreme northern and southern regions in Germany. No cases were reported in Saxony, Thuringen, or Saxony-Anhalt. A table of positives reported in OIE reports also shows little overlap between 2006 and 2007. There were cases in Bavaria both years, but in 2006, none of the listed positives were in Nuremberg. The only wild bird isolate in Saxony was in the summer, at the Dresden zoo. Similarly, although two grebes were listed, the majority of positives were in swans.
The sequences of 2006 isolates in Germany fell into three distinct sub-clades. Clade 2.2.2.1 was in northern Germany. Recent sequences from Denmark are also clade 2.2.2.1. Another sub-clade, 2,2,2,3 was exclusively found in southern Germany, in Bavaria, while the third sub-clade, 2.2.2.2 was more widely distributed, and was also in neighboring Czech Republic, Italy, and Austria.
Reports from FLI note the similarity between the isolates from Bavaria and Saxony with 2006 isolates from Tyva/Mongolia. The outbreak was massive, and the isolates in Tyva were from grebes. These similarities raise the possibility that this sub-clade migrated to Germany in the fall of 2006, but was not detected until recently. The recent outbreak on Kelbra Lake is significant. There have already been 153 confirmed cases, and over 200 birds have died. The vast majority of the dead birds have been two species of grebes.
Like 2006, all wild bird positives in Germany have been in dead or dying birds. The same is true for 2006 isolates in neighboring countries. H5N1 in healthy wild birds in western Europe has not been reported. The only two countries reporting H5N1 in live healthy wild birds have been Russia and Egypt. These detection failures in western Europe suggest that the sensitivity in the live bird testing is low. This low sensitivity may also limit detection in wild birds. The vast majority of dead wild birds also test negative, although media reports indicate that all tested dead birds on Kelbra Lake have been positive.
These data provide additional support for endemic H5N1 in western Europe.
H5N1 has been confirmed in June and July in Germany, the Czech Republic, and France in resident wild birds.
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