Commentary
H5N1
Confirmed On Hong Kong Farm
Recombinomics Commentary
08:55
December 11, 2008
The above comments confirm that the H5 detected on a farm in Hong Kong (see updated map), is H5N1, as expected. Over 200 chickens had died, including those who had been vaccinated, raising concerns that the H5N2 vaccine was losing effectives, as had been mentioned during the outbreak in live markets in Hong Kong over the summer.
Mismatched vaccines allow for asymptomatic spread of H5N1 because the partial immunity keeps the host relatively healthy, while the virus in continually shed. The outbreaks in live markets as well as a farm in Hong Kong suggest these unusual outbreaks may be vaccine driven.
Sequences from H5N1 in wild birds in the 2007/2008 season in Hong Kong revealed at least two distinct Fujian sub-clades (2.3.2 and 2.3.4), including reassortants closely related to H5N1 found in whooper swans in Japan as well as South Korea and southeastern Russia in the spring of 2008.
These outbreaks in Hong Kong and Japan by genetically similar isolates support migration along the East Asian flyway, and raise questions about the lack of reported H5N1 in China.
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