Commentary
H5N1
Spread in Thailand Raises Surveillance Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary
16:47
November 11, 2008
The bird flu outbreak that was first detected in Sukhothai's Thung Saliam district has spread to the neighbouring Sawankhalok district where 30 chickens died yesterday from the deadly avian virus in Moo 2 of Tambon Nai Muang, an informed source said.
The above comments from media reports provide additional linkage between the spread of H5N1 in northern Laos and the spread in northern Thailand. Laos filed an OIE report on H5N1 spread in late August / early September, and filed another report yesterday on a third location, less than 200 miles from the outbreak reported in an OIE report from Thailand (see satellite map). The media reports on Thailand indicate H5N1 has been circulating there since August at multiple locations, denials in ProMed notwithstanding.
H5N1 in both countries is not a surprise. When H5N1 exploded out of China in later 2003 / early 2004, the clade 1 H5N1 was present throughout southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia). Therefore, the concurrent appearance of H5N1 in northern Thailand and northern Laos is not a surprise, and it is likely that H5N1 is also currently circulating in northern Vietnam and China, although neither country has filed recent reports.
Updated reports from these countries would be useful.
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