Qinghai H5N1 in Suffolk England Similar to German Isolates
Recombinomics Commentary
November 13, 2007
Mr Landeg said initial test results showed the virus found in Suffolk was "closely related to outbreaks in Czech Republic and Germany in the summer, which does suggest a possible wild bird source".
The above comments suggest that sequence analysis has been done on the H5N1 from the turkeys in Suffolk and they are closely related to Qinghai H5N1 detected in outbreaks in Germany and the Czech Republic this summer, as expected.
Those sequences were described by FLI and were said to be closely related to sequences reported previously (from the massive outbreak in Tyva/Mongolia in 2006). More recently, the full sequence of all eight genes from H5N1 isolated September 5, 2007 in Krasnodar were made public. Those sequences were also closely related to the earlier Tyva/Mongolia, and like 2007 isolates in Moscow, Egypt, and Ghana, had appended NA G743A onto the earlier genetic backgrounds.
The concurrent acquisition of the same genetic change strongly implicated acquisition via recombination with a common source. In Germany, the number of wild birds that were positive for H5N1 was similar to record number detected in early 2006, when H5N1 was widely detected in Europe.
These latest results support an H5N1 reservoir in Europe that is flying below the surveillance radar and appearing sporadically in poultry on farms near these flight paths.
Media Links
Recombinomics Presentations
Recombinomics Publications
Recombinomics Paper at Nature Precedings