High Path H5N2 in Taiwan?

[Mamabird]

The following sequence was recently posted to public data bases. It is a2008 isolate, but no collection date given.

Multiple basic amino acids at the HA clevage site, plus a PB1-F2 with a nasty mutation. Looks highly pathogenic, but can find no information at OIE.


A/chicken/Taiwan/A703-1/2008(H5N2)

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: High Path H5N2 in Taiwan?

I see there was a low-path H5N2 in Taiwan in 2003. I wondered if perhaps they didn't clear up the earlier strain, but when looking at an alignment between the two, there are several differences in the HA. Would that indicate they are two different introductions?

They are (with accession #):

BAH79568 564 Avian HA H5N2 Taiwan 2008 Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Taiwan/A703-1/2008(H5N2))
AAS87596 564 Avian HA H5N2 Taiwan 2003 Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Taiwan/1209/03(H5N2

BTW - when looking at sequences how do we identify and look to find the poly-basic cleavage site?

.

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: High Path H5N2 in Taiwan?

..........Looks highly pathogenic, but can find no information at OIE.


A/chicken/Taiwan/A703-1/2008(H5N2)

Perhaps it's the outbreak referenced by Shiloh's post here:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/sho...8&postcount=19

12-25-2008, 06:28 PM

Re: Taiwan: H5N2 reported in Tainan County

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Source: http://taiwanjournal.nat.gov.tw/ct.a...22&xItem=47445

Kaohsiung bird flu outbreak controlled
Publication Date：12/26/2008
By Ellen Ko

A Kaohsiung County poultry farm was confirmed by the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture Dec. 20 as the site of an H5N2 bird flu virus outbreak.

According to a COA spokesman, the council has responded with epidemic prevention measures and reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The council emphasized that the H5N2 virus is less virulent than the high-pathogenic H5N1 strain, and there have been no cases of animal-to-human transmission. "Taiwan remains the only country free of H5N1 virus in Asia, and its domestic poultry products are still safe for consumption," the spokesman said.

The first suspected case of avian flu surfaced Oct. 21 when several hundred chickens on a farm in southern Kaohsiung County's Luchu Township died from unknown causes. In addition to immediately quarantining the site, all 76 poultry farms within a radius of three kilometers were disinfected and placed under observation.

According to Lee Shu-hui, deputy director of the COA's Animal Health Research Institute, prior to the council's release of information on the suspected outbreak Dec. 17, its officials conducted exhaustive testing and examination procedures that required 19 to 40 days to produce conclusive results. "Our first test results Nov. 12 showed what looked like a high-pathogenic strain of H5N2, but as less than 3 percent of the chickens had died, this did not concur with lab test findings," she said.

Aware of the potential for an epidemic, Lee explained that the council decided to conduct a second examination while taking precautionary measures to avoid causing public concern. As soon as tests indicated there might have been a bird flu outbreak in October, the COA's epidemic prevention procedures were activated.

"On Nov. 14, all 18,000 chicken on the infected farm were destroyed," Lee said. "In addition, we applied the heightened standards used for managing high-pathogenic avian flu outbreaks to deal with this situation. Since the commencement of prevention procedures, no fresh outbreaks have been discovered."

After analyzing the second sample collected from the Luchu farm Nov. 12, a team of experts confirmed Dec. 20 the existence of the low-pathogenic bird flu virus H5N2. The COA reported the outbreak to the OIE later the same day.

A senior official from the OIE said Dec. 22 that before advising the international body of an incidence of bird flu, testing must be carried out in accordance with its regulations to obtain necessary scientific evidence. He commended Taiwan for reporting the outbreak without delay.

The OIE issued a formal notification to all members Dec. 22 and also posted the information on its Web site the same day.

Meanwhile, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced Dec. 17 a temporary suspension of all poultry imports from Taiwan. The ministry's statement pointed out that the decision was not out of food safety concerns, but as a preventive measure to block H5N2 from entering Japan.

Taiwan exports chicken to markets throughout Asia, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. So far only Japan has imposed a ban on Taiwan's poultry due to the H5N2 outbreak. In 2007 Japan imported from Taiwan 5,128 tons of poultry, 65 tons of poultry products and 148 tons of eggs. According to COA statistics, poultry and egg exports from Taiwan to Japan stand at around US$23 million per year.

In order to prevent domestic poultry prices from fluctuating wildly, COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung said if necessary, the council would activate a price stabilization measure. Larger loans are also available for poultry farmers to help them weather losses resulting from the outbreak. Under the scheme, each farmer can apply for a maximum loan of NT$30 million (US$908,000), up from the previous NT$20 million; and each related enterprise can apply for a maximum loan of NT$40 million, up from NT$30 million. The interest rate for such loans is 1.5 percent per annum.

Write to Ellen Ko at ellenko@mail.gio.gov.tw

[Mamabird]

Re: High Path H5N2 in Taiwan?

Thanks, AD. You got that cleared up in a hurry, and I did finally find the OIE report listed under "Low Path Chinese Taipai".

As to your earlier question about the HA cleavage site, just look around position 336 and find the "GLF" marker in the sequence. If there are any basic amino acids of concern, they will immediately precede GLF.