Commentary: Panic in India as H5N1 Spreads to New District

Commentary

Panic in India as H5N1 Spreads to New District
Recombinomics Commentary 15:47
December 5, 2008

Panic spread in lower Assam as the dreaded bird flu has spread to Barpeta district after taking in its grip almost half of Kamrup district.

Health authorities said the disease had spread to Barpeta and confirmed that it was the worst ever avian flu attack in the region since its detection.

The authorities admitted that they had not been able to contain the virus which had been threatening to wipe out Assam's entire poultry as the temperature was all set to dip in the next 30 days.

The authorities informed that the flu spreads when the temperature is on the lower side and there was fear that it could spread to humans.

The above comments confirm the spread of H5N1 to a new district, Barpeta, in Assam (see updated map). The comments also raise concerns of additional spread in the upcoming weeks. Reports of H5N1 in India and Bangladesh rose sharply in January of this year, generating the worst H5N1 outbreaks in both countries reported to date.

Bangladesh reported H5N1 in a child in the slums of Dhaka, who recovered. However, it is likely that significant numbers of infections in Bangaldesh and India went unreported. Early video reports from West Bengal included villagers collecting dead birds without PPE’s as well as reports of consumption of the dead birds followed by bird flu symptoms. However, these cases were observed and not tested, raising concerns of widespread infections.

In addition to reports of humans with symptoms, wild bird deaths (resident and migratory) were linked to the poultry outbreaks, include large numbers of crows. Bangladesh confirmed H5N1 in the crows, but India has never reported H5N1 in any hosts other than domestic poultry.

These past reporting shortfalls suggest testing in the current outbreak will be limited. India has acknowledged the potential role of migratory birds in current outbreaks, but sequences from the earlier outbreak in West Bengal remain at Genbank under password protection.

The confirmation of H5N1 in India and Bangladesh, as well as expect spread in the near term remain causes for concern.