H5N1 on Farm in Germany
Recombinomics Commentary
December 17, 2007
A rural area north of Berlin has been placed under quarantine after a new outbreak of bird flu led to the deaths of 11 chickens, authorities said Saturday.
Five of the birds died suddenly this week and the rest were put down after tests on Friday showed they were infected with the H5N1 virus that can also harm humans.
Following the positive tests, officials sealed off an area covering a radius of three kilometres in the Oberhavel region of Brandenburg, the state which surrounds the German capital.
The above comments describe the re-emergence of H5N1 in northern Germany. Although Germany failed to identify H5N1 in wild birds prior to this poultry outbreak, the location of this outbreak is in the general vicinity of the multiple outbreaks in Poland (see satellite map). Poland also failed to find H5N1 in wild birds preceding these outbreaks, but H5N1 was found in wild birds in 2006 at locations between these recent poultry outbreaks in Poland and Germany.
Similarly, Germany found H5N1 in multiple wild bird outbreaks over the summer of 2007 as well as early 2006. The outbreaks over the summer signaled an active fall / winter period for Europe. In the past countries in western Europe failed to find H5N1 in the fall. However, H5N1 has already been reported in poultry in England and now there are outbreaks in Germany and Poland. The ealier outbreaks in Kuwait, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Krasnodar, England all trace back to the wild bird outbreak at Uva Lake in the summer of 2006.
It is likely that H5N1 is currently widespread in Europe, but surveillance in the region remains in the dismal category. Virtually all detection of H5N1, in wild birds and poultry has been in dead or dying birds. These detection failures again signal a need for a more sensitive assay. Russia has had the most success in detecting the current or former presence of H5N1 in wild birds by screening for genetic information with a PCR test, and also screening for H5 antibodies, which reflect earlier infections.
In the past various organizations have focused on negative data on PCR testing in live birds, which again fail to detect H5N1 in regions where it has been reported in dead or dying birds. The emphasis on this negative data remains a hazard to the world’s health.
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