Commentary
H5N1
Migration To Nagaland India
Recombinomics Commentary
13:04
December 19, 2008
The above comments strongly suggest H5N1 has migrated to Nagaland (see updated map). Nagaland has issued alerts based on suspected H5N1 outbreaks in adjacent Assam, but the above comments cite the death of multiple wild bird species in association with poultry deaths.
Although H5N1 has not yet been confirmed in Karbi Anglong, multiple outbreaks of unnatural poultry deaths have been cited, and Bhopal has requested additional samples.
Yesterday Bhopal confirmed H5N1 in dead crows in the city of Guwahati, where extensive culling is ongoing. Similarly, last season Bangladesh confirmed H5N1 in crows in multiple cities and this season hundreds of dead crows have been reported in association with the confirmed H5N1 in Malda, West Bengal.
Yesterday’s confirmation of H5N1 in crows was the first wild bird confirmation by India, but other countries have published H5N1 sequences from wild birds, including crows, since 2003.
Failures to detected H5N1 in wild birds is frequently linked to testing procedures which target cloacal swabs from live birds or test a limited number of dead birds after samples have degraded. The H5N1 assays are designed for dead or dying poultry, when multiple fresh samples are available.
The reports of dead wild birds in the jungles of Karbi Anglong in Assam suggest more outbreaks will be linked to further migration to the south, and wild bird alert levels have been raised across northern India.
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