Commentary
India
H5N1
Alerts in Tripura and Mizoram
Recombinomics Commentary
15:20
December 7, 2008
More than 100,000 poultry were culled in Assam during the past 10 days after a bird flu outbreak in the state.
More than 80 Rapid Response Teams (RRT) are ready to act in case of an outbreak of bird flu in Tripura," said Sisir Paul, deputy director of the state's animal resource department.
The above comments describe H5N1 alerts issued by two eastern Indian states which are significantly south of the outbreaks in Assam (see updated satellite map). H5N1 from Assam would have to pass through Meghalaya and eastern Bangladesh to reach the two states issuing alerts. Thus, these alerts may reflect earlier announcements citing migratory birds as the source of the Assam outbreaks, since birds will continue migrating south to the Ganga Delta in southern West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Last season both West Bengal and Bangladesh reported record levels of H5N1, Initially West Bengal limited culling to areas that were H5N1 confirmed, but delays in reporting led to culling in areas with excessive poultry deaths or areas bordering West Bengal. Thus, although there were excessive poultry deaths in Assam and Meghaalya last season, there were no reported confirmed cases.
However, in the spring there were confirmed cases in Tripura in areas bordering Bangladesh. Although H5N1 was initially denied, the deaths of dogs and jackals after consumption of infected birds signaled H5N1 movement into Tripura, which H5N1 was subsequently confirmed.
This season H5N1 has been confirmed in northwestern Bangladesh, but the confirmed repirts may signal much more widespread distribution of H5N1 in wild birds as well as unreported poultry.
The current OIE filings by Assam and Bangladesh are significantly earlier than the January / February filings last season, which may signal a larger outbreak this season, since H5N1 is more stable in colder temperatures and spreads for easily.
Some of the sequences from poultry isolates from the outbreak last season in West Bengal have been deposited at Genbank under password protection. Media reports last season indicated the H5N1 in West Bengal and Bangladesh were the Qinghai strain and closely related. Release of the H5N1 from last season, as well as recent outbreaks in Assam and Bangladesh would be useful.
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