Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

[Sally Furniss]

May 6 2006 2:45PMBird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

ARKHANGELSK. May 6 (Interfax) - H5 bird flu antibodies have been found in the blood of a wild goose shot for testing outside Arkhangelsk, Nikolai Yuferev, the chief expert from the Arkhangelsk regional veterinary department, told Interfax.
The find indicates that either the goose had contact with a sick bird or was sick itself, Yuferev said. "It would be premature to make conclusions from this single fact," he said. The combination of H5 and N1 antibodies are dangerous to humans, but the laboratory equipment in Arkhangelsk is inadequate for more specific tests, Yuferev said. The amount of samples provided to the laboratory was insufficient for comprehensive tests, he said. The heads of local governments in Severodvinsk and the Nyandoma district have been notified about the bird flu antibodies in the goose.
New test shootings of wild birds will be held in the near future. The hunting season in the Arkhangelsk region opens on May 7.

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11511963

 

[KC]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

May 6 2006 2:45PMBird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region...

ARKHANGELSK. May 6 (Interfax) - H5 bird flu antibodies have been found in the blood of a wild goose shot for testing outside Arkhangelsk, Nikolai Yuferev, the chief expert from the Arkhangelsk regional veterinary department, told Interfax.
The find indicates that either the goose had contact with a sick bird or was sick itself, Yuferev said. "It would be premature to make conclusions from this single fact," he said. The combination of H5 and N1 antibodies are dangerous to humans, but the laboratory equipment in Arkhangelsk is inadequate for more specific tests, Yuferev said. The amount of samples provided to the laboratory was insufficient for comprehensive tests, he said. The heads of local governments in Severodvinsk and the Nyandoma district have been notified about the bird flu antibodies in the goose.
New test shootings of wild birds will be held in the near future. The hunting season in the Arkhangelsk region opens on May 7.

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11511963

Hunting season starts May 7th.

Lets say, you randomly shoot a bird prior to hunting season that appears to be healthy... test it.... and it comes up with H5N1. What would your conclusions be?

Mine are threefold:

1) If you randomly shoot a bird and it has H5N1 = Lots of H5N1 around.

2) If you shot a bird that had "antibodies" and was still flying like a healthy bird = Antibody development may start before the symptomatic phase happens OR this goose had some ability or immunity to fight H5N1.

3) What are the implications of hunting in H5N1 endemic areas? = More research needed.

Am I correct in reading this article? I believe it says tha H5 has been found. "Further tests" needed for N1?

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

My guess is that this bird has H5N2 or H5N3.

Geese haven't done well with H5N1.

It would be good to know the exact goose species.

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[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

Although thousands of bar-headed geese died at Qinghai Lake last year, most survived and are coming back this year.

I suspect H5N1 in Russia. If they have blood for H5 testing, they have blood for N1 (or N2 or N3) testing. When there was H5N1 last August in Volga Delta and Kalmykya, Russia just said H5.

 

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05060602/H5_NW_Russia.html

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

I'd need to go back and check, but the Lesser played a role in the area north of Crimea, I believe. One of those had a migratory path that traced our early human infection regions last winter. YOu could see it in the satellite tracking maps.

-------------------------------

It's the Lesser WFG.

I believe these were the ones who moved further west into Europe this winter to avoid extreme cold.

See all maps here

map from region similar to this infection is here. (too big to post)

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[Theresa42]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

So, we've got fewer geese than usual this year in the Arkhangelsk region...

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5424

...but this randomly shot one tests positive for H5. Doesn't sound good to me.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

we're having our 24 hour area bird count as I speak - I'll be listening (or asking) to see if they see any decreases, because NONE of the migratory birds in this area (at this time) went through SE Asia. So if our counts are down, it may mean something other than BF.

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[Theresa42]

Re: Bird flu antibodies found in wild goose in Arkhangelsk region

we're having our 24 hour area bird count as I speak - I'll be listening (or asking) to see if they see any decreases, because NONE of the migratory birds in this area (at this time) went through SE Asia. So if our counts are down, it may mean something other than BF.

Ah! That'll be interesting to hear, AD. Keep us posted.