300K Ducks Dead In Indonesia From New H5N1 Strain - One Jumper Confirmed; 4-year-old Boy Dead

[hatrack]

AKARTA, Indonesia, December 18, 2012 (ENS) – Indonesia has identified the bird flu virus that has killed hundreds of thousands of ducks over the past few weeks as a virulent type which is new to the country. More than 300,000 ducks in several provinces on the island of Java have died since November, a poultry breeders’ association reported to the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry.

In a letter to local government offices and the World Health Organization, the ministry’s veterinary chief Syukur Iwantoro explains that the newly identified viral strain of avian A/(H5N1), called a “clade,” is “very different to the avian influenza found before” in Indonesia. “We found a highly pathogenic avian influenza sub-type H5N1 with clade 2.3.2.,” Iwantoro wrote.

Iwantoro recommended further research into whether the virus previously found in the country has mutated, or whether the new strain originated overseas. The new strain may have been introduced from outside Indonesia by migratory wild ducks or by poultry imports from other countries.

Now, the new viral strain has claimed its first human victim. A four-year-old boy died from West Java died from bird flu on December 6 at the the Tangerang District Hospital about 25 km west of Jakarta.

EDIT

http://ens-newswire.com/2012/12/18/new-lethal-bird-flu-strain-emerges-in-indonesian-ducks/

[phantom power]

1. not awesome

it impresses me how fast we can isolate and classify virus strains these days.

[FedUpWithIt All]

2. I was not happy to see this OP heading.

I have a deep dread about H5n1 becoming an airborne virus. A few years ago i watched it pretty closely. Scary virus.