http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1242219/1/.htm
Indonesia has identified the bird flu [avian A/(H5N1)] virus that killed hundreds of thousands of ducks in recent weeks as a more virulent type which is new to the country, according to a letter seen Tuesday [11 Dec 2012].
"We found a highly pathogenic avian influenza sub-type H5N1 (virus) with clade 2.3..." the agriculture ministry's veterinary chief Syukur Iwantoro said in the letter obtained by AFP.
"This clade is a new clade found for the 1st time in Indonesia, that is very different to the avian influenza found before, which is clade 2.1." A clade is a group of organisms, usually species, with a common ancestor.
A poultry breeders' association had reported the death of more than 300 000 ducks in several provinces on Java Island since November [2012] to the ministry.
The veterinary office found the H5N1 virus involved was a different clade to that usually found in Indonesia, said Iwantoro's letter to local government offices and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Iwantoro called for further research into whether there had been a genetic shift in the virus previously found in the country, or whether the new strain originated overseas.
"There is a suspicion that the virus has spread from other countries, possibly from Viet Nam or Thailand," Emil Agustiono, secretary of the national commission of zoonosis control that oversees bird flu, told AFP.
Health officials have told local governments to stop and check motorbikes and pick-up trucks commonly used to transport poultry, to try to reduce the spread of the virus.
The health ministry has told local offices to be vigilant for more massive poultry deaths, or for deaths of people in the vicinity, its head of communicable disease Tjandra Yoga Aditama told AFP.
Bird flu typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans.
Indonesia has suffered the world's worst human fatalities from bird flu with 159 deaths since 2003 out of 359 worldwide, according to the WHO.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
******
[2]
Date: Mon 10 Dec 2012
Source: FluTrackers [summ., edited]
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196156
Hundreds of thousands of ducks have died in several regions from a bird flu strain recently discovered in Indonesia.
Director of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture, told Radio Australia that the Ministry has detected the presence of a new type derived from bird flu since last September [2012].
The Ministry of Agriculture said the bird flu virus is a newly discovered variant of the H5N1 strain.
It was said that the new clade 2.3.2. could have mutated from the previous strains. New types of bird flu in Indonesia are expected because of the bird flu virus mutation; this is under detailed research.
Another possibility is that the new clade has been introduced from outside by migratory birds such as wild ducks and/or by poultry imports from abroad.
For the prevention of the spread, the Ministry has instructed destruction of affected birds and advised Local Government to instruct farmers to refrain from keeping ducks with other bird species.
"We will also coordinate with the Ministry of Health about the findings, in relation to the significance of the new type of AI [avian influenza] concerning public health," said Pujiatmoko.
So far there have been no reports of a new type strain of bird flu in humans in Indonesia.
This type of bird flu virus has previously been found in India, Viet Nam and China.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association of Local Poultry has reported more than 300 thousand ducks died last week [week of 3 Dec 2012].
Deaths of ducks have recently been discovered in 4 provinces of the island of Java, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Yogyakarta.
Researchers of avian influenza from Airlangga University, Surabaya are engaged in the research related to these new findings, especially the role of ducks as reservoirs.
[Byline: Laban Laisila, Iffah Nur Arifah]
[The original report is from Radio Australia (in Indonesian, machine translated)
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/indonesian/2012-12-10/jenis-baru-virus-flu-burung-ditemukan-di-indonesia/1058696]
--
Communicated by:
Gert van der Hoek
Senior Moderator
FluTrackers
http://flutrackers.com
[As of 9 Dec 2012, a total of 191 human cases of H5N1 have been reported by Indonesia since the start of the local epizootic there in 2005, of which 159 patients have, reportedly, died. During 2012, 8 cases have been reported, all of whom died. Indonesia ranks first globally, followed by Egypt (168 cases including 60 deaths) and Viet Nam (123 cases including 61 deaths).
Worldwide, 608 human cases have been reported since the start of the panzootic (initially, in 2003, in China and Viet Nam), of which 359 have reportedly died.
For the evolution of the Asian H5 hemagglutinin, see WHO's conceptual diagram of ongoing H5N1 evolution athttp://www.who.int/influenza/gisrs_laboratory/201101_h5n1evoconceptualdiagram.pdf. Also, see commentary by Mod.CP in ProMED-mail archive no 20111024.3168.
HPAI H5N1 was declared by Indonesia as an endemic disease on 21 Sep 2011; since then, no follow-up reports were required and have not been submitted. A change in the pathogenicity/epidemiology of the causative agent may require its immediate notification to the OIE. - Mod.AS
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/21SD.]
