H5N1 Confirmed in Dead Crows in Guwahati Assam

Recombinomics Commentary 15:31
December 18, 2008

Blood samples of the crows found dead in Chatribari area in Guwahati were confirmed as H5N1 positive by laboratories in Bhopal and Pune, sources said.

The above comments confirm H5N1 in dead crows in the Assam's largest city, Guwahati, where extensive culling is ongoing (see zoomed map). Although H5N1 in crows has been reported in many outbreaks, including Bangladesh and Egypt, confirmations by India in the past have been lacking.

Last season crows and other wild birds were noted in West Bengal and Bangladesh, but only Bangladesh confirmed that the crows were H5N1 positive. The dead crows produced panic last season in Bangladesh and Calcutta, and similar concerns have been voiced in relation to the hundreds of dead crows in Malda.

The careless discarding of dead poultry leads to infections in wild birds and animals that eat the H5N1 positive poultry, which leads to local spread. Therefore, restrictions on the movement of poultry and sealing of borders are compromised by the spread of H5N1 by wild birds, which do not respect border closings.

Although infections in wild birds are not a surprise, the confirmation by India helps define the problems and difficulties in bringing these outbreaks under control after there has been a rapid expansion of infections as confirmed in Assam, West Bengal, and Bangladesh.