Xinhua News: Extensive H5N1 Outbreaks In North Korean Poultry

 

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Although we occasionally get hints of outbreaks of bird flu, or FMD, in North Korea, very rarely do we details out of that closed and secretive nation. Given the amount of bird flu activity (H5N1 & H5N8) we’ve seen reported out of South Korea over the past decade, the assumption has been that unreported bird flu outbreaks probably occur with some regularity in the DPRK as well.

 

This morning Yonhap News, Xinhua News, and others are reporting on a major outbreak of H5N1 in North Korea, along with reports of FMD, which have been ongoing for several weeks.

 

While this would be a concern in any part of the world, the culling of thousands of birds is a particular concern to a nation where widespread hunger is all too often a reality.   Here is the Xinhua News Report.

 

DPRK hit by outbreak of bird flu, FMD

English.news.cn   2014-04-09 16:48:27
 

PYONGYANG, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been fighting an outbreak of bird flu since last month, culling tens of thousands of poultry so far, official news agency KCNA reported Wednesday.

A chicken farm in the capital first reported signs of avian influenza (AI), known as the H5N1 virus, on March 21, and the virus has spread to other poultry farms, KCNA reported, citing Agriculture Ministry director Ri Kyung Kun.

"(We) are suffering from extensive economic damage as tens of thousands (of poultry) have either fallen dead or been culled," the report said.

As part of efforts to control the highly contagious virus, the DPRK authorities "set up an emergency quarantine commission and declared an emergency prevention situation across the nation," it said.

"(The government) has controlled the traffic, come up with quarantine measures and buried the culled. But the disease shows no sign of dying down and continues to spread," the KCNA said. The country was hard hit by AI last year.

The KCNA also confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cows, which was first spotted in Kangwon Province near the border on March 14, but gave no details.

In February, the DPRK said an FMD outbreak at a pig farm in a Pyongyang suburb led to the culling of thousands of pigs.

 

 

In May of 2013 the DPRK informed the OIE of an outbreak of H5N1 near Pyongyang, followed two weeks later with a report indicating the outbreak had been limited and was `resolved’.   Prior to that outbreak, you have to go back to 2006 to find an official report filed on H5N1 out of North Korea.

 

Today’s reporting states `The country was hard hit by AI last year’, which would suggest a larger outbreak than had been previously acknowledged.

 

Although today’s media report indicates this outbreak has been ongoing for several weeks, to date I can find no reports filed with the OIE or the FAO.

 

In the past South Korea has provided emergency aid and assistance to the North during bird flu containment operations, seeing it as not only a humanitarian response, but also one that helps protect their nation and the world from the further spread and evolution of the virus.  

 

With tensions mounting between  North & South Korea, and between the DPRK and much of the rest of the world, it is unclear how much aid would be offered – or for that matter, accepted – in this current outbreak. 

Chinese NHFPC: H7N9 Pandemic `Unlikely’

 

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With new cases being reported on a daily basis, and China’s biggest holiday and travel season (Lunar New Year) just two weeks away, China’s NHFPC has issued an opinion on the current risks posed by the H7N9 virus, calling a pandemic `unlikely’.

 

First, this report from Xinhua News, followed by a link and an excerpt from the actual statement.

 

H7N9 epidemic unlikely: health watchdog

English.news.cn   2014-01-17 20:12:45
 

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said on Friday that a large-scale H7N9 epidemic is unlikely, following 28 cases reported nationwide this year.

 

"Current cases are scattered, and no mutation of the virus has been idntified so far that could affect public health," said a Friday statement from the commission.

 

The 28 cases of human infection of H7N9 so far were reported in east China's coastal regions of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu as well as south China's Guizhou and Guangdong provinces.

 

Guangdong reported on Thursday two new cases of human H7N9, and another avian flu patient that died on Wednesday after treatment failed.

 

"The virus is still spreading from birds to human, and the chances of large-scale human H7N9 infection are slim," the statement said, citing experts.

 

However, the commission noted that cases will keep rising as the country's urban and rural fowl markets are scattered while the transporation and trade of poultry will become more frequent to meet the demand around the upcoming Spring Festival.

 

The commission urged local health departments to strengthen monitoring and step up treatment of patients while carrying out detailed prevention and control measures and timely risk evaluations.

 

Here is the (machine translated) statement from the NHFPC .

 

National Health and Family Planning Commission recently informed people infected with H7N9 bird flu prevention and control work

National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic 2014-01-17

A recent human infection of H7N9 avian influenza situation and the situation is judged

Into winter quarters in 2013 to strengthen our country and around the ILI unexplained pneumonia surveillance, strengthening of human infection with H7N9 avian influenza. Since January 2014, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, five confirmed cases were found in 28 cases cases cases were sporadic. Up to now, monitoring found no public health significance of virus occurrence of variation. Experts judged that since the transmission of the virus is still the birds to people, urban and rural prevalence of live poultry market transactions, backyard poultry in the short term is difficult to eliminate the phenomenon, coupled with the Spring Festival approaching, live poultry transport, trade and consumption of more frequent, our China will continue to appear human infection with H7N9 avian influenza sporadic cases, but the small possibility of a pandemic.

(Continue . . . )

 

 

I think that it is fair to say, as long as this virus does not acquire new mutations that allow it to adapt better to transmitting between humans, the pandemic risk remains low.  

 

When (or even if) such changes will ever occur is unknown.

 

But given the severity of many of the infections we’ve seen, the presumed lack of global immunity to H7 influenza viruses, and the fact that influenza viruses are constantly evolving - even a low risk of a pandemic makes this virus one to watch closely.

Xinhua News: Cambodia Reports 19th & 20th H5N1 Case Of Year

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While the traditional hotspots (Indonesia, Egypt, China)  for human H5N1 infection remain strangely quiet, Cambodia continues to report new cases, mostly among children, and mostly in the southern provinces.  Today Xinhua New is reporting on their 19th and 20th cases of 2013,..

 

An official statement has not yet shown up on the the Cambodian MOH or World Health Organization WPRO websites. I’ll update this post with a link when that happens.  Yesterday ProMed Mail carried an RFI (request for information) regarding a rumor of one of these cases. 

 

Of the 41 cases reported in Cambodia since 2005, nearly half (20) have been reported this year.

 

Two new bird flu cases confirmed in Cambodia, one dies

English.news.cn   2013-09-19 13:41:08
 

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Two more new human cases of avian influenza have been confirmed for the H5N1 virus in Cambodia, bringing the number of the cases to 20 so far this year, a hospital spokesman said Thursday.

 

A five-year-old girl from Takeo province and a two-year-old girl from Kampot province, who already died on Wednesday, marked the 19th and 20th confirmed cases of avian influenza this year, said Dr. Denis Laurent, deputy director of Kantha Bopha Children' s Hospital, the kingdom's largest pediatric hospital. "The little girl from Kampot was in very serious condition when she arrived at our hospital and died Wednesday," he told Xinhua." The little girl from Takeo still hospitalizes, but her condition is stable."

 

Only nine out of the 20 cases this year survived.

 

H5N1 influenza is a flu that normally spreads between sick poultry, but it can sometimes spread from poultry to humans, according to the World Health Organization. It is a very serious disease that requires hospitalization.

 

Cambodia saw the worst outbreak of the virus this year since it was first identified in 2004. To date, the country has recorded 41 human cases of the virus, killing 30 people.

 

While Cambodia has reported the bulk of the cases in 2013 there remain serious gaps in surveillance, testing, and reporting around the world, and so the true incidence of human infection with this virus isn’t really known.  We assume we are missing some cases.

 

For now, H5N1 remains poorly adapted to humans, only causing sporadic infections in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and is primarily a threat to poultry. 

 

That status could change, of course.

 

And so we watch H5N1, along with the upstart H7N9 avian flu, MERS-CoV, and a growing list of other emerging infectious diseases carefully, for signs they may be better adapting to humans.

Xinhua News: 17th Cambodian H5N1 Case This Year

 

# 7585

UPDATED : Crof has an update on this case which you can read at Cambodia: Details on the new H5N1 case

 

With the caveat that the Cambodian CDC has yet to post an official statement, Xinhua News is reporting the detection of a 17th case of H5N1 infection this year in Cambodia, that of a 6-year-old boy from Kandal Province who has since recovered.

 

Although this H5N1 case was reportedly confirmed on August 17th, it isn’t clear from this article when this child fell ill, or whether this case was discovered retrospectively from routine testing.

 

I’ll update this blog if and when we get something more official.

 

 

Cambodia reports 17th human case of bird flu this year

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- A six-year-old boy from Cambodia's southern Kandal Province has been confirmed for the H5N1 virus, bringing the number of the cases to 17 so far this year, a joint statement by the World Health Organization and Cambodian Health Ministry said Wednesday.

 

The boy was confirmed positive for human H5N1 avian influenza on Aug. 17 after he caught fever, headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, cough and lethargy, the statement said, adding that the boy came into contact with sick poultry.

 

"The boy has now recovered," it said.

 

Only 7 out of the 17 cases this year survived, the statement said.

 

The latest death from the virus was a 9-year-old boy from northwestern Battambang Province, who died on Sunday.

(Continue . . .)

 

We learned of Cambodia’s 15th & 16th H5N1 Case just over a week ago.