Commentary
H5N1
Spread To Fourth Malda Block In West Bengal
Recombinomics Commentary
23:15
December 22, 2008
A routine surveillance is going on in all 15 blocks of Malda district and we are collecting at least 10 blood samples from each block for laboratory tests in Kolkata
The above comments describe the likley spread of H5N1 to the Manikchak block in Malda in West Bengal. Thus, in addition to the confirmed H5N1 in Englishbazar, that led to culling of over 20,000 birds in Englishbazar and adjacent Old Malda block, there have been reports of deaths in multiple villages in Ratua I and Gajole blocks (see zoomed map) as well as hundreds of dead crows. All of these blocks are in a small area of Malda, but testing is slow and suspect, so the H5N1 is not confirmed. Instead the deaths are blamed on Newcastle Disease, but are not confirmed to be Newcastle Disease.
This approach was used last season also. Blood samples were used to measure antibodies, but H5N1 kills the birds too quickly for detectable antibodies to accumulate. For Assam, all of the initial positives were from tissue samples, not blood samples. Similarly, the positives in Englishbazar were based on a rapid test that identifies RNA in tissues or swabs, not antibodies in blood samples.
These delays in properly testing lead to spread of H5N1.
Bangladesh is reporting new confirmed H5N1 outbreaks almost daily now, as wild birds migrate south and spread the H5N1.
Therefore near term spread of H5N1 throughout West Bengal is likely.
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