Published Date: 2001-05-28 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza, H5N1 - China (Hong Kong) (06)
Archive Number: 20010528.1038
AVIAN INFLUENZA, H5N1 - CHINA (HONG KONG) (06)
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See Also
Avian influenza - China (Hong Kong) 20010420.0778Avian influenza, H5N1 - China (Hong Kong) (05) 20010522.0991
1999
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Influenza H5N1, avian - China (Hong Kong) 19990329.0490
1998
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Influenza, bird-to-human - China (Hong Kong) (31) 19980101.0004
Influenza, bird-to-human - China (Hong Kong) (38) 19980210.0267
Influenza, H5N1, human - China (Hong Kong) (02) 19980113.0101
Influenza H5N1, avian - China 19980108.0055
Influenza H5N1, avian - China (04) 19980119.0156
Influenza H5N1, human - China (Hong Kong) 19980110.0081
Influenza H5N1, human - China (Hong Kong) (04) 19980115.0113
Influenza H5N1, human - China(Hong Kong):serosurve... 19980224.0364
Influenza H5N1, human - China (Hong Kong): serosurvey 19980131.0199
Influenza virus A (H5N1): 2 strains - China (Hong Kong) 19980404.0621
1997
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Influenza, bird-to-human, China (Hong Kong) (17) 19971216.2484
Influenza, bird-to-man, - China (Hong Kong) (12) 19971209.2452
Influenza, bird-to-man, first case? 19970820.1747
Influenza, bird-to-man transmission - China (Hong ... 19971206.2438
Influenza, human, avian strain - China (Hong Kong) 19971204.2426
Date: Sun. 27 May 2001
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Washington Post, Washington Post Foreign Service, Sat 26 May
2001 [edited
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/print/world/A82842-2001May26.html>
Avian influenza H5N1 virus thought to be goose-duck recombinant virus
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HONG KONG: This former British colony [now the Special Administrative
Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China - Mod.CP promotes an image
as Asia's most cosmopolitan city, a freewheeling hub for global commerce on
the doorstep of the world's most important developing economy. But the
viral epidemic that has raged through poultry stocks in this month
highlights the difficulties Hong Kong faces in juggling its aspirations
with its geographic and cultural proximity to the rest of China.
Researchers are still probing the origins of the virus, which forced health
officials this month to order the slaughter of more than 1 million
chickens, geese, ducks, and quail at Hong Kong farms and markets and to put
a temporary ban on live poultry imports from mainland China. That's where
many say they suspect that the bird virus originated, and where Hong Kong
officials are powerless to enforce health and environmental standards.
Experts say there are many similarities between this influenza outbreak and
a 1997 avian influenza virus that killed 6 Hong Kong residents and is
thought to have originated in geese native to Guangdong, the Chinese
province on Hong Kong's northern border. The 1997 flu triggered panic here
because it was the first known instance of humans contracting a deadly
virus directly from chickens. Public reaction to the latest [reports of
avian influenza virus has been more muted, partly because the government
has moved swiftly to combat it and because there have been no deaths. But
Professor K Shortridge, a renowned microbiologist leading the team of flu
researchers who spotted early signs of the latest epidemic, said the new
virus could easily have evolved into a strain lethal to humans had it been
left unchecked.
Hong Kong has established an elaborate system of blood tests, inspections,
and quarantine rules to screen birds before they cross the border. The
[new outbreak has rekindled residents' concerns that even the most
rigorously trained inspectors [cannot detect everything, and has reminded
[them that officials [in the SAR have no authority to monitor, much less
regulate, health and environmental conditions on mainland farms. China
supplies over 70 per cent of the 100 000 fresh chickens eaten in Hong Kong
every day and is the territory's leading source for geese, ducks, quail,
and pheasants. Moreover, the millions of migratory birds circulating around
the Pearl River delta pay little heed to border checkpoints.
Some are calling for the government to outlaw the sale of live birds at
street markets, an edict that could be unenforceable, given Hong Kong
residents' preference for freshly killed poultry over the frozen variety.
Shortridge, an Australian who has studied viral epidemics in this region
for over 30 years, was one of the first microbiologists to identify the
crucial role played by aquatic birds, particularly ducks, in spreading flu
viruses harmful to humans. His early research advanced the notion that
centuries of reliance on ducks to gobble insects and weeds from rice
paddies helped transform this part of Asia into the "influenza epicentre of
the world".
Hong Kong University's virus team suspects the Guangdong goose virus that
played a key role in the 1997 epidemic might have reappeared in Hong Kong
as early as last August. It was difficult to detect at first, however,
because it circulated in low levels and had combined with viruses normally
found in ducks rather than the quail viruses with which it allied in 1997.
The goose-duck virus might have skipped to chickens as early as December,
but it was not until mid-April that Shortridge spotted abnormalities in
fecal samples from one street market that bore resemblance to the deadly
1997 strain.
[Byline: Clay Chandler
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ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The 1997 H5N1 outbreak was unusual in that there appeared to be direct
transmission of an avian influenza virus to humans without passage through
an intermediate mammalian host. Fortunately, the virus did not spread from
person to person and the outbreak was contained by destruction of the
source of the virus. The current H5N1 virus recovered from domestic poultry
in Hong Kong differs from the 1997 strain and has not transmitted to
humans. The rapid response of the Hong Kong authorities suggests that the
human population is not at risk. Avian influenza viruses are present in
aquatic birds and excreted via the cloaca into lakes and water course in
other parts of world besides East Asia. The circumstances that lead to the
evolution of strains which can infect humans are still not well defined. -
Mod.CP
.........................mpp/cp/sh
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