Bird Flu Confirmed in India

[Guest Guest]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060219/asp/...ory_5866151.asp

 

Delhi has a familiar disease

RASHEED KIDWAI

Bhopal, Feb. 18: Rapid dissemination of information – that’s the cornerstone of the fight against any contagion, but not if Delhi can help it.

 

The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal, the only one in Asia equipped to deal with bird flu, developed cold feet for a few hours this evening after confirming that the deadly virus has arrived in India.

 

“Yes, it is bird flu,” an official confirmed in the afternoon. Hours later, however, he was less sure: “It was a preliminary report and we need to confirm it.”

 

The official had been taking calls from across the country. However, sources in Delhi said a few calls from the capital made the officials of the lab clam up.

 

The sources said some decision-makers in Delhi were upset with the laboratory for creating a “scare”. They feared that businesses such as poultry, tourism and aviation would be hit and conveyed their displeasure to the lab.

 

By night, however, an official at the lab again confirmed that some samples had tested positive. “But there is no need to panic,” he added.

 

 

[gardnmom]

Are we going to be able to keep track of this with half the countries clamming up with fear of losing money?

 

[Guest Guest]

Possible human death:

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02190601...t_Fatality.html

 

H5N1 Bird Flu Fatality in Surat India

 

Recombinomics Commentary

February 18, 2006

 

A poultry farm owner died on Friday in Surat district

 

Ganesh Sonarkar, 27, was a resident of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra state

 

Sonarkar was admitted to a hospital in the town about 10 days ago and was "provisionally diagnosed with bird flu".

 

"He died on Friday," Tiwari said.

 

The above comments indicate fatal H5N1 bird flu has spread to India. Serum samples from eight people are be analyzed for H5N1 and four more people are under observation. All of these cases are in western India, near a major H5N1 poultry outbreak (see map).

 

India is in the Central South Asia flyway, which also includes Qinghai Lake, suggesting the infections are due to the H5N1 Qinghai strain. Confirmed fatalities have also been reported in Turkey and Iraq. The index case in Turkey had S227N in HA of the isolated H5N1. This polymorphism had been predicted based on recombination between H5N1 and H9N2. This prediction was based on donor sequences in the Middle East (Israel). However, H9N2 from nearby areas, including Turkey, Pakistan, and India were not in the database, raising the possibility that the same donor sequences were present. H9N2 is endemic in India and Pakistan.

 

Although H5N1 is spreading in regions in western India, crows were dying near Mumbai last year with H5N1 symptoms. In addition, the bar-headed geese that died in May of last year also were H5N1 positive. These geese and other long range migratory waterfowl winter in India, where poultry workers have tested positive for H5N1 antibodies.

 

Confirmed H5N1 cases in birds and at least one person have been reported in western India. However, additional poultry deaths have been reported in northeastern India.

 

Information on the symptoms of patients being tested would be useful as would sequence data on the H5N1, including S227N in human cases.

 

 

[gardnmom]

Thank the Lord we have the sites.

Thanks Darlene.