Myanmar Reports H5N1 Outbreak

 

# 9755

 

It’s been several years since we last heard about H5N1 in  Myanmar (aka `Burma’), although like other low-resource, developing, and/or secretive areas of the world we don’t exactly enjoy a reliable stream of news and disease outbreak information from there. 

 

Many areas are remote, and exotic disease surveillance – if it exists at all – is often very patchy.

 

Myanmar first reported H5N1 in 2006, but the last time we heard from there was in  2011 when we saw Bird Flu Reported On Poultry Farm, and before that in March of 2010 we saw Myanmar Reporting New Bird Flu Activity.  The sole human infection reported was in 2007 (see WHO Update: Myanmar Reports Human Infection) which involved a 7-year old girl who survived.

 

Overnight Crof posted a report from Reuters (see Crofsblog Myanmar culls chickens, quail to contain H5N1 outbreak) on a new outbreak of H5N1 reported in the center of the country, near Mandalay.  

 

While I don’t find anything posted yet on the Myanmar Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development or OIE Alerts website, we’ve another report  (h/t Gert van der Hoek of FluTrackers) from The Irrawaddy.

 

Govt Confirms Bird Flu Outbreak in Monywa

By THE IRRAWADDY| Thursday, February 26, 2015 |

 

RANGOON — The government has confirmed an avian flu outbreak in a poultry farming area in upper Burma, according to an announcement in state-run media on Thursday.

A statement released by the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development said that a number of chickens and quail have been found dead at poultry farms in Monywa, Sagaing Division since Feb. 10, leading to a laboratory confirmation of the presence of the H5N1 influenza virus in the animal carcasses.

Up to Wednesday, more than 10,000 chickens and quail have died from the virus, and more than 20,000 have been culled, according to Sagaing Division’s Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

(Continue. . . )

 

As with both Nigeria and Bulgaria earlier in the year, we seem to be seeing the H5N1 virus pop up in places where we’ve seen it before, but not for several years.

 

By contrast, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and even Vietnam – all former hotspots for the virus – have been surprisingly quiet on the bird flu front.

 

Coming into this winter H7N9 was expected to be the big bird flu story, but the abrupt arrival of H5N8 in Europe, Taiwan, and North America, the big surge of human H5N1 infection in Egypt, and the return of H5N1 to its old haunts show just how unpredictable avian flu continues to be.

Myanmar: Bird Flu Reported On Poultry Farm

 

 

# 5241

 

 

This time of year is when we expect to see an increase in bird flu cases in the Northern Hemisphere (and tropics), as the virus spreads better in cooler weather.  And we’ve seen that in the past couple of months in places like Korea, Japan, and of course Egypt and Indonesia.

 

Some outbreaks may go unnoticed, particularly in areas where veterinary services, surveillance, and reporting are lacking.

 

While we don’t often get much in the way of news out of Myanmar, yesterday the Burmese Ministry of Fishery and Livestock announced an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 at a poultry farm in Sittwe in Arakan State (see map).

 

(OIE map)

 

This is the first reported H5N1 outbreak in that country since March of 2010 (see Myanmar Reporting New Bird Flu Activity).

 

Arkanoid Legent has picked up a local media report on this outbreak that provides some details.

 

Myanmar : Avian flu found on a poultry farm in Sittwe

An article from Mizzima News :

" Chiang Mai : The avian influenza has been detected on a poultry farm in Sittwe in Arakan State, according to the Burmese Ministry of Fishery and Livestock.The state newspapers confirmed that concerns first arose as some battery hens died on a poultry farm in Bumay Village in Sittwe Township. A Rangoon veterinary diagnostic lab diagnosed the deaths occurred because of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

(Continue . . . )

 

Towards the bottom of this report reference is made to:

 

“In 2009 and 2010, a total of 126 people were infected with avian influenza. There were no reported deaths.”

 

Whatever this statistical non sequitur is referring to, it would appear to be something other than the H5N1 avian flu.  We’ve seen other instances where reporters have mixed up the H1N1 `swine’ flu with avian flu, and so that perhaps explains it.

 

For the record, the World Health Organization lists 121 Avian flu cases during that time frame, with 56 fatalities.

 

 

For more technical details on this outbreak, we have the OIE notification report, portions of which I’ve excerpted below:

 

(Link to OIE report)

Epidemiological comments

 

The layer chickens were 3 months old. There were a total of 800 chickens. Chicken deaths started from 6 January and a total of 500 chickens died. HPAI virus was detected by PCR. There are 8 farms in this village with a total of 5,000 chickens. All are layer chickens of different ages.

Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection        • Unknown or inconclusive

Myanmar Reporting New Bird Flu Activity

 

 

# 4409

 

 

Last month we received two reports out of Myanmar of bird flu outbreaks in poultry (see Reports Out Of Myanmar and Report: Bird & Poultry Die Off In Myanmar).   The first occurrence was in the southern part of the country, near Yangon (Rangoon), and the second was near the coast near the border with Bangladesh.

 

 

Today Xinhua News is reporting a new outbreak in the North Western division of Sagaing  (marked in red).

 

 

Myanmar experiences bird flu H5N1 re-strike along with influenza A/H1N1

English.news.cn 

By Feng Yingqiu

YANGON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is experiencing re-strike by bird flu H5N1, detecting more such cases in northwestern Sagaing division this month with some chickens suspected of dying of virulent avian influenza in a poultry farm in Yinmapin township early this week.

 

It was the third H5N1 case exposed since the avian influenza recurred in Myanmar last month, nearly two years after the country was claimed free from the disease.

 

The unusual death of chickens were proved to have been caused by highly pathogenic avian Influenza (HPAI) after laboratory tests conducted in Yangon and Mandalay, according to Saturday's official report.

 

The findings have been further reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Animal Health Organization (OIE).

 

The authorities have culled chickens and destroyed eggs bred in the farm as its control measures.

 

According to the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department ( LBVD), the first case in the bird flu recurrence this year occurred in Yangon's Mayangong township and the second in Mingaladon township both in the same February.

 

(Continue . . .)

 

Report: Bird & Poultry Die Off In Myanmar

 

 

# 4362

 

 

 

 

Earlier this month we received reports of H5N1 bird flu in poultry on farms near Rangoon, the capitol of Myanmar (see Reports Out Of Myanmar).

 

Today we’ve another report, this time from several hundred kilometers to the north – near the border with Bangladesh – of poultry and wild birds dying in large numbers from an unknown disease.

 

According to this report, these bird deaths began after poultry was imported from Rangoon, where H5N1 was recently reported.    While suspicious, we don’t have any confirmation of H5N1 in this incident.

 

 

The source is Narinjara News, which is run by a group of Arakanese living in exile in Bangladesh. 

 

Getting reliable reports out of Myanmar is always problematic, given the tight controls the ruling military junta imposes on the press, so we’ll simply have to wait and hope we hear more about this incident.

A hat tip goes to Twall on FluTrackers for posting this report.

 

 

 

Bird and Chicken Deaths on the Rise in Western Burma

2/19/2010

Maungdaw: Thousands of chickens and other birds have died along the western Burmese border over the last ten days, but authorities have not yet made an announcement regarding the reason behind the deaths.

 

An official from Maungdaw said, "An official team led by Maungdaw Township Chairman U Tin Own went on Wednesday to Bagon Na Village to investigate where over 100 chickens died in a outbreak all together of an unknown disease."

 

Bagon Na Village is located on the outskirts of the town of Maungdaw. Veterinarians on the team brought some of the chickens that died at the poultry farm to Maungdaw in order to send them to Rangoon for preliminary tests.

 

A retired police officer from Wima La Ward said, "The deaths of chickens and birds in Maungdaw Township have increased recently. This is not just an outbreak in a rural area but has also happened in downtown Maungdaw. Many chickens, crows, and other kind of birds are dying in our town."

 

The worst hit areas are rural areas of Maungdaw Township, where large numbers of birds are dying on a daily basis.

Many people are now avoiding eating chicken or eggs, even though there has been no official alert about the disease in Maungdaw.

 

A hostess said, "People in Maungdaw are not eating chicken or eggs at present, nor are they going to the chicken markets because they are worrying about the disease infecting people."

 

(Continue . . . )

 

Reports Out Of Myanmar

 

 

# 4336

 

Irrawaddy.org (a news magazine covering Burma/Myanmar but emanating from Thailand) has a story today on the supposed infection and deaths of chickens from the H1N1 virus near Rangoon.

 

Since H1N1 has not been shown to be pathogenic in chickens - and in recent days there have been reports of H5N1 bird flu outbreaks in that region - my assumption for now is that the writer has somehow mixed up their virus types.

 

This is most probably H5N1.

 

 

 

Eggs Withdrawn at Markets after Flu Outbreak

---

By LAWI WENG
Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Burmese authorities have banned the sale of eggs in markets in Rangoon Division after the discovery of the A/H1N1 virus at a chicken farm, according to Rangoon sources.

 

The ban extends initially to Feb 28, the sources said. The authorities ordered the ban after more than 100 chickens died of the swine flu virus.

 

Meanwhile, state media reported on Monday that eight students in the Rangoon suburb of North Okkalapa and four people in Chin State had contracted A/H1N1.

 

The infected students were admitted to the Wai Bar Gi infectious diseases hospital in Rangoon, and 73 people with whom they possibly had contact were quarantined.

 

Since the original global outbreak of A/H1N1 in April 2009, 69 cases have been registered in Burma. There were no fatalities.

 

Dr Myo Lwin, a national consultant with the World Health Organization  in Burma, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: “It is like a wave. It can happen any time because the virus is in the air and can easily infect people.”

 

Myo Lwin said the authorities had sufficient medicine and facilities to control the outbreak.

 

Dr Zaw Ye Myint, a veterinary surgeon in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy he was worried the virus could transmute and take a more serious form.

 

Health workers say that although precautions are adequate at Rangoon International Airport, border checkpoints lacked the necessary equipment to test arriving travelers.

 

 

RoRo on FluTrackers posted this report on an outbreak of Avian Flu on a Rangoon Chicken farm two days ago.

 

 

Avian flu detected on army farm

Monday, 08 February 2010 01:12 Myint Maung & Myo Thein

 
New Delhi, Rangoon (Mizzima) – The potentially fatal avian flu has been detected on an army-run poultry farm in Rangoon.

 

The February 6th issue of the government operated Myanmar Ahlin confirmed that the Ministry of Fishery and Livestock identified the outbreak of avian influenza at a poultry farm in No. 5 Ward, Mayangon Township.

 

The Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department carried out the field inspection at the poultry farm, which has about 2,500 chickens, on February 2nd and 3rd. Laboratory tests, conducted twice, subsequently confirmed a case of severe avian flu, the newspaper reported.

(Continue. .  .)