H5N1 virus tracking hampered by data collection failures

Critical information about the incidence of avian influenza (the H5N1 strain) is allegedly not being collected in a systematic or effective manner worldwide, which is hampering efforts to track the spread of the disease which has killed approximately 60% of all known human cases. The claim appears in the November issue of BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

The article's authors warn that the problems of data gathering "can lead to unwarranted assumptions and conclusions that, in turn, affect public perceptions, practical control and management measures, and the disposition of resources."

Among the failings reported in the article are: wrong species of an infected bird, or inexact terms such as "wild duck;" no mention of the gender of the infected animal; and misidentification of the carrier's age. Even details of the location where the specimen was found are not consistently recorded, making tracking of migration routes difficult.