Latest H5 cases - Magpie and starling
I just discovered the latest cases reported on the government website.
A Common Magpie picked up in Sha Tin on 31 May has tested positive for H5 (further testing underway)
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200706/05/P200706050209.htm
and a starling (thought to be red-billed) picked up in Mong Kok on 26 May has tested positive for H5N1
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200706/01/P200706010206.htm
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200705/29/P200705290224.htm
The previous pattern has suggested that most of the cases in the last couple of years can be easily related to scavenging birds, or the trade in wild birds (birds picked up close to the bird market). The Magpie is a scavenging species, while the location (boundary street) and date of the starling suggest a probable escape/release.
I have personally seen cages full of starlings at the bird market - given the date and the urban location I suspect that this may be the origin of the individual that has tested positive for H5N1. The address that the bird was picked up is the same as for some of the cases earlier this winter (2 silver-eared mesias and a white-rumped munia), which seems like an unlikely coincidence!
It is perhaps relevent that HKU have tested hundreds of samples of wild red-billed starlings trapped in HK. All have tested negative for the disease. This is a communal species, roosting and feeding in large flocks, which should make it prone to contagious diseases; the lack of positive results suggests that H5N1 is in fact very rare in wild starlings, if it occurs at all!
