#11,368
Earlier this week the Indian press was filled with reports of a `bird flu scare' in Karnataka State, although whether it was `lab confirmed' avian influenza depended upon which media source you read.
Even today, some media reports are still calling it a `possible bird flu outbreak' (see The Hindu Culling ends dated May 12th).
This afternoon the OIE has posted a notification, and confirms the state lab has identified the pathogen as HPAI H5N1, which was last reported in India in January in the Northeastern state of Tripura.
Like many other countries, India saw substantial H5N1 activity in the latter half of the last decade, with millions of birds lost to the disease or to culling.
Since 2010, outbreaks have been more sporadic, although beginning in the second half of 2014 we seen an increase in reports. Despite a long history of H5N1 outbreaks both in wild birds and in poultry, India has yet to report its first human infection with the virus.
