The endemic status of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in Egypt is overwhelming the country's control efforts, and more global cooperation is needed to prevent more damage to Egypt's poultry industry and reduce the threat of a flu pandemic, two veterinarians with close knowledge of the country's disease situation reported today. They published their review in Epidemiology and Infection. Since the virus first emerged in Egypt in 2006, poultry outbreaks and human infections have become year-round occurrences, even in summer months. The article says several factors could be impacting the epidemiology of the disease, such as free access of dogs and wild birds to carcasses of culled H5N1-infected poultry. Human infections are becoming more common in children, but experts aren't sure why. Two main factors that could drive genetic changes in H5N1 viruses circulating in Egypt are (1) incomplete poultry vaccination strategies that don't include regular surveillance and (2) continuous and inter-species circulation of the virus. Oseltamivir-resistance changes seen in a 2007 family illness cluster and an amantadine-resistant marker isolated from chicken isolates remain rare, the authors noted. The government is working to phase out live poultry markets and is considering ending routine poultry vaccinations, but it is having a difficult time enforcing biosecurity standards, especially at unregistered small and medium-size commercial farms.
Feb 1 Epidemiol Infect abstract
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