Unusual Crow (Corpus splendens) and Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius), fruit bats death in Dhaka, Bangladesh: a One Health approach to outbreak investigation

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has caused ≥500 reported outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Bangladesh since 2007. In early 2011 and 2016 H5N1 spread among wild crows in several Bangladesh districts, including, Dhaka. Responding to reports of a crow mortality event in Mohakhali, Dhaka, a multidisciplinary One Health team investigated crow mortalities between January 15th and February 20th, 2017. The aim was to identify the etiologic agent, source of the infection, and characterize the extent of the outbreak. The One Health team collected swabs from moribund and dead crows (N=171) and environmental samples from 19 neighboring LBMs (N=149) where crows were observed feeding from within a 7km radius surrounding the crow roosts of the reported outbreak and LBMs…