Nepal’s bird flu outbreak spreads, breeding pandemic mutation fears

Nepal has culled more than 600,000 birds and destroyed around 1 million eggs as an H5N1 bird flu outbreak spreads across the Kathmandu-valley" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="77890" data-entity-type="location">Kathmandu Valley, shutting the capital’s only zoo and raising fears among scientists over the virus’ potential to mutate into a form transmissible between humans.The outbreak began in eastern Nepal in March before reaching the densely populated valley around mid-June – a development that health experts say raises the risk of human exposure. More than 60 poultry farms across the Nepalese capital and nearby Kavre district have been affected, with authorities racing to contain what has become the country’s most serious bird flu crisis in years.“It’s mostly spreading inside Kathmandu and few places are remaining to cull the infected birds,” Mukul Upadhyaya, a senior veterinary officer at Nepal’s Department of Livestock Services, told This Week in Asia. “We have identified crows carrying the pathogen to be transmitting the infection from one location to another in and around Kathmandu.”