Scientists discover deadly bird flu began in Scotland

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Scientists discover deadly bird flu began in Scotland

 

FRASER NELSON AND JIM GILCHRIST

 

Scientists tracing the history of the H5N1 virus have traced its first

recorded episode to an Aberdeen farm. The dead bird was taken to

Surrey for medical examination, after infecting two flocks of chickens.

 

But while British medical authorities are preparing to cope with a

pandemic of a new H5N1 outbreak from South-east Asia, the case notes

of the original Scottish case have not been consulted, on the grounds

that the virus has grown far heartier and deadlier over the past 46

years. The reams of research papers tracing the history of H5N1, which

resurfaced in South Korea two years ago, show academics are unanimous

in identifying the virus as being effectively made in Scotland. A

scientist identified only as Dr JE Wilson, of the Veterinary

Laboratory in Lasswade, outside Edinburgh, is recorded as having

worked on the case - sending the chicken to Addlestone, where the

strain was medically isolated so it could be used in experiments. The

Scottish H5N1 has been used in experiments, named " chicken/Scotland/1959 " .

 

It was the first of 21 avian flu outbreaks that have affected the

world - including English turkeys in 1963, 1979 and 1991. But none

showed the powers of contagion seen by the eight Asian countries to

have confirmed H5N1, which has killed 69 people and 100 million birds.

 

Tom Pennycott, an avian veterinary specialist at the Scottish

Agricultural College at Auchincruive, Ayrshire, said the virus may

have the same title, but other characteristics will have changed over

46 years.

 

" The H5N1 that was found back in 1959 would have been quite different

to the one that's around now, " he said. " Similarly, there was an H5N1

down in Norfolk in December 1991 and it will be different to the H5N1

that's about just now. "

 

He added that the only additional information he has been able to find

about the H5N1 in Scotland was that two flocks of chickens were

infected. The total number of birds affected, however, was not

reported. No medical agency in Scotland or England was able to give

many details - except to say that the disease has become heartier and

deadlier since it was found in Scotland. There is also no sign of Dr

Wilson. The Moredun Research Institute at Penicuik said that it had no

record of him and that he was likely to have passed away. Flu strains

are named after the various H and N protein codes recognised by the

immune system. No H5 flu had ever spread to humans before 1997, when

Hong Kong reported six casualties.

 

The 1959 Scottish H5N1 was - like all its successors - incapable of

moving from species to species. But this changed last year, when the

South Korean version showed itself capable of infecting pigs, rodents

and humans.

 

Scientists have been most alarmed at the fast rate of H5N1's mutation.

For the first time, the virus can survive in chicken faeces and in

dead meat, without requiring the flow of fresh blood. This has made it

stealthier, claiming victims who had no obvious connection with the

agricultural industry. But its low human death toll suggests that the

disease has yet to pass from human to human.

 

Meanwhile, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, met British farmers

yesterday and said he agreed with the National Farmers Union that

chicken remained safe to eat. - scotsman