Commentary
H5N1
Spread To Central Assam India
Recombinomics Commentary
23:31
December 16, 2008
The above comments strongly suggest that H5N1 has migrated into the central region of Assam (see updated map). H5N1 has already been confirmed at the northwest and northeast regions of the country, and H5N1 in Karbi Anglong would begin to fill in the region in the middle.
Other media reports have cited unusual poultry deaths in multiple regions, including additional districts in the west and east. Confirmation in India is slow, and culling activity has already been curtailed in four regions due to a shortage of Tamiflu.
Thus, confirmation in more areas is expected. The expectations are also supported by confirmed H5N1 in West Bengal and Bangladesh. The West Bengal outbreak expanded rapidly, and now there are reports of hundreds of crows dying and villagers eating the dead poultry, which is a repeat of events 12 months ago in West Bengal.
H5N1 has also been confirmed in Jiangsu, China, which has been linked to migratory birds. However, the H5N1 is said to be usual for southern China, suggesting it is either the Qinghai strain (clade 2.2), which is the strain that migrated to India and Bangladesh last season, or a novel strain (clade 0), isolated at Qinghai Lake over the summer.
Since birds at Qinghai Lake migrate to India and Bangladesh for the winter, the rapidly spreading H5N1 in India and Bangladesh may be this novel strain.
Therefore, sequence data on the H5N1 in Indian and Bangladesh would be useful.
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