Uva Lake H5N1 Migration to South Korea
Recombinomics Commentary
December 21, 2007
Sequences from the H5N1 outbreak in Korea at the end of 2006 have been released. As expected, the sequences are the Qinghai strain (clade 2.2). However, these sequences are closely related to the Uva Lake sequences from the massive outbreak there in the summer of 2006. Migratory birds fly from Mongolia to South Korea towards the end of the calendar year. Therefore, the presence of the Uva Lake strain in Korea is not a surprise.
Like the sequences from the summer of 2006, the South Korean NA sequences do not have NA G743A. This polymorphism was appended onto multiple genetic backgrounds in 2007, including the Uva Lake strain isolated from multiple locations in Germany in the summer followed by domestic poultry and a whooper swan in Krasnodar.
Although the Uva Lake strain was found in Korea in the fall of 2006, it was not detected in Europe until the summer of 2007. This detection failure highlights a need to upgrade surveillance programs. The Uva Lake strain in the summer of 2007 in Germany, Czech Republic, and France did lead to an active fall in Europe which has had Uva Lake H5N1 outbreaks in Krasnodar, England, and Germany. It is likely that outbreaks in Poland, Romania, and Rostov will also be the Uva Lake strain.
A/chicken/Korea/CA7/2006
A/duck/Korea/Asan5/2006
A/environment/Korea/W149/2006
A/duck/Korea/Asan6/2006
A/chicken/Korea/IS3/2006
A/chicken/Korea/IS/2006
A/chicken/Korea/IS2/2006
A/quail/Korea/KJ4/2006
A/environment/Korea/W150/2006
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