Avian Infl uenza A Virus (H5N1) (original) (raw)

Phylogenetic analysis of infl uenza A viruses (H5N1) isolated from Kuwait in 2007 show that (H5N1) sublineage clade 2.2 viruses continue to spread across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Virus isolates were most closely re-lated to isolates from central Asia and were likely vectored by migratory birds. Highly pathogenic avian infl uenza (HPAI) virus (H5N1) has been endemic in poultry in Asia since 2003 (1,2). From 2002 through 2005, infl uenza virus (H5N1) has also been sporadically isolated from dead wild birds in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China; however, these birds were considered dead-end hosts of viruses acquired from poultry (3,4). In April 2005, an infl uenza (H5N1) outbreak was detected in bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) at Qinghai Lake in western China (5). Following this outbreak, the Qinghai-like (clade 2.2) infl uenza virus (H5N1) lineage was detected in wild birds and domestic poultry in countries in central Asia, the Mid-dle Eas...