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Biosecurity Briefing
WHO Launches Database to Track H5N1 Virus Samples; India Reports Difficulties Controlling H5N1 in Bengal By Jennifer Nuzzo, January 25, 2008 According to a January 23, 2008, Canadian Press (CP) report, the World Health Organization (WHO) has created an electronic database “to allow countries to track the H5N1 influenza viruses they have provided to international laboratories.” The database contains information on “what specimens were submitted by [a] country, what work was done on them, and whether viruses recovered from the specimens were shared with companies and academic researchers outside the WHO network of influenza laboratories.” The database “also lists results of tests done to see if submitted viruses are sensitive or resistant to flu drugs, shows whether the genetic codes of the viruses have been worked out and whether those genetic blueprints have been logged in open-access databases.”1 The current version of the database contains data on H5N1 viruses that were submitted to the WHO network since November 24, 2007. WHO anticipates that future versions of the database will allow member countries to track all influenza viruses submitted to the WHO lab network. As reported by the CP, WHO said that it created the database in “response to demands for more transparency in [its]…virus sharing system.”1 [For more information on this topic, see "No Agreement Reached between WHO and Indonesia on Sharing H5N1 Samples" in the Biosecurity Briefing.] In related news, authorities in Bengal (India) admitted the state was “falling behind in its battle against bird flu as the virus spread to more than half the densely populated state.” According to an Agence France Press (AFP) article, authorities in Bengal are calling for neighboring states to send “at least 1,000 more vets and doctors” to help contain the highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza outbreak that has affected “thousands of chickens” in the last week. The article reports that “hundreds” of culling teams have already been sent to the 10 districts in Bengal where avian flu has been confirmed, “but not all of them were accompanied by doctors.” Bengal state animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman told the AFP "We've urged the federal government to send expert teams and doctors to assess the situation and help the culling teams."2 Since the beginning of the poultry outbreak, Bengal has increased its culling target from two million birds to 2.2 million after the outbreak spread to 2 additional districts. To date, there have been no reported human cases of avian influenza associated with the recent outbreaks in Bengal. References
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