Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

[hawkeye]

Dr. Niman, I thought you might find this interesting.

Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

01/23/2007
The Asahi Shimbun

The avian flu that killed thousands of chickens in Miyazaki Prefecture is almost identical to the one that sparked an epidemic in China that has been spreading since 2005, experts said.

The experts, citing test results of DNA samples, said the highly virulent strain of the virus might have been carried by migratory birds from China to Japan.

The National Institute of Animal Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, has been analyzing the virus after obtaining samples from dead chickens at a poultry farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki Prefecture, in mid-January.

The test results showed that the strain found on the Kiyotake farm was at least a 99-percent match in terms of DNA sequencing with the H5N1 strain confirmed in China in May 2005, the experts said.

The strain at the Kiyotake farm is apparently genetically different from the other H5N1 strain of avian flu that has caused outbreaks in Southeast Asia, they added.

Several thousand migratory birds have been killed by avian flu at Qinghai Lake, China's largest lake, in the western part of the country.

Scientists were shocked by the birds' deaths because they had shared the view that wild fowl, in general, would not develop symptoms stemming from avian flu.

According to the World Health Organization, 13 people were killed in China in 2005 and 2006, possibly by the strain of avian flu in question.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is trying to determine the route of the infection that ended up killing thousands of chickens at the Kiyotake farm, the sources said.

The same H5N1 strain is believed to have caused an epidemic in South Korea in November last year.(IHT/Asahi: January 23,2007)

[gsgs]

Re: Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

no surprise for Dr.Niman.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries might consider
releasing the sequences, so we can do the routing work for them.
Who will be faster, Korea or Japan ?

[HenryN]

Re: Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01230702/H5N1_Japan_Qinghai.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01...n_Qinghai.html

Commentary

Qinghai H5N1 Confirmed in Japan
Recombinomics Commentary
January 23, 2007

The test results showed that the strain found on the Kiyotake farm was at least a 99-percent match in terms of DNA sequencing with the H5N1 strain confirmed in China in May 2005

Several thousand migratory birds have been killed by avian flu at Qinghai Lake, China's largest lake, in the western part of the country.

The above comments confirm the Qinghai strain of H5N1 in the initial outbreak in Japan this year. This confirmation was not a surprise because Qinghai had been confirmed in South Korea at the end of 2006, and the outbreaks were following the same pattern that was reported in 2003/2004 when H5N1 was reported in South Korea, followed by similar outbreaks in Japan. Moreover, the sequences in Korea and Japan in 2003/2004 were precursors to the Qinghai strain, which was first reported at Qinghai Lake in May, 2005, folowed by migration to Siberia and Mongolia. Whooper swans migrate from Mongolia to South Korea.

Although the Fujian strain was widespread in live markets in southern China in 2005/2006, the surveillance found only one reported Qinghai sequence (in a Guinea fowl in Shantou). However, the failure to find significant Qinghai infections in southern China, did not signal that the Qinghai strain was being replaced by the Fujian strain.

The Qinghai strain spread westward after migrating to southern Siberia and Mongolia in the summer of 2005. All subsequent reports of H5N1 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were the Qinghai strain. Therefore detection of the Qinghai strain this season in South Korea and Japan was not surprising.

Similarly, the H5N1 outbreaks in Egypt have also been the Qinghai strain. The sequences this season have the genetic background defined by last years isolates, but have added new polymorphisms, some of which have been identified in Shantou geese.

Release of the Qinghai sequences in South Korea and Japan as well as the sequences from last season in Europe and the Middle East would be useful.


.

[gsgs]

Re: Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

Qinghai strain is apparantly just "better" with spreading
long range through migratory birds.
It might slowly replace other strains, at least outside China.

Once Qinghai is introduced in Vietnam,Thailand, Indonesia -
would we expect that the current strains vanish due
to cross-immunity ? That is, birds infected with Qinghai
would be immune for some time against IDN,VNM strains ?

[HenryN]

Re: Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007


Another outbreak of bird flu feared in Miyazaki
MIYAZAKI (Kyodo) An outbreak of bird flu is suspected at another poultry farm in Miyazaki Prefecture, just 60 km from the farm in Kiyotake that was decimated by the high virulent H5N1 strain two weeks ago.
About 570 birds died between Monday and Tuesday at the farm in the municipality of Hyuga. Preliminary tests on 11 birds showed one is positive for avian flu and four other are suspected positive, prefectural officials said Tuesday.
There are no other poultry farms or residences near the farm, the officials said. Miyazaki Prefecture is the nation's top chicken producing region.
If confirmed, it would be Japan's sixth bird flu outbreak.
One of three poultry houses at the Taniguchi Furanjo Kurosaka Farm in Kiyotake had 3,500 birds die of avian flu. The farm's remaining 12,000 chickens were culled and all the carcasses incinerated to stop the spread of infection.
The team from the agriculture ministry investigating the outbreak at that farm said Tuesday that birds migrating from northern China may have brought the virus to Miyazaki.
The H5N1 strain killed a number of wild birds at Qinghai Lake in western China in 2005. The strain moved west of China as the birds migrated, causing outbreaks in the Middle East and Europe.
The government is still unclear how the chickens at the Kiyotake farm became infected. The farm had taken measures to prevent wild birds from coming in contact with its poultry.
People in the region's poultry business were dismayed by the news.
"Since the outbreak in Kiyotake, every chicken farm in this area has followed the instruction of health authorities and taken steps to keep our farms clean," a local chicken dealer said.
Another dealer was irritated, saying, "We don't want the media to report any more news on this."
The manager of a restaurant in the city of Miyazaki was not worried.
"The kind of chicken we use is not the type suspected with bird flu," he said.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070124a1.html

[HenryN]

Re: Avian flu in Miyazaki Prefecture almost identical to one in China

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007


Another outbreak of bird flu feared in Miyazaki

The manager of a restaurant in the city of Miyazaki was not worried.
"The kind of chicken we use is not the type suspected with bird flu," he said.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0070124a1.html

Sounds like in Japan, even live birds don't fly.