First Death Due To Bird Flu At AIIMS Delhi; Staff Under Isolation

An 11-year-old boy from Haryana, who was undergoing treatment for the Avian Influenza died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Delhi had more active cases of black fungus than those of Covid-19. While the state was still, slowly recovering from the wrath of COVID-19 and black fungus, it got hit by a new case of bird flu.

An AIIMS official stated that the boy was admitted to the hospital on July 2, died on Tuesday. He added that all the staff members who were in contact with the patient have been put under isolation as a preventive measure. This is the first death recorded in the country from bird flu since the beginning of the year, reported The Indian Express.

WHO On Bird Flu

Avian influenza is a highly infectious viral disease caused by Influenza Type A viruses which generally affects poultry such as chickens and turkeys. It does not spread easily to humans. People who have come in close contact with infected birds, dead or alive, can contract the H5N1 flu.

But according to the WHO, there is no true evidence for the virus to spread through properly prepared and cooked poultry as the virus is sensitive to heat and dies in high temperature, WHO also added that human cases of Bird flu occur "rarely" but when it does happen the fatality rate is as high as almost 60%.

Transmission Of Disease

According to the experts, the virus can be transmitted through contact with excrement and secretions from the nose, eye, and mouth of an infected bird. AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria on Wednesday said that usually transmission from human-to-human is rare as the H5N1 virus is not well adapted to attach to the receptors in human cells. It generally happens in people handling dead birds, bird droppings, or infected poultry who do not take precautionary measures and have poor personal hygiene.

Cases in Other States

Earlier this year, in January the deaths of thousands of birds were reported in various parts of the country, which had raised the bird flu alarm and the virus was detected in birds in states like Rajasthan, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Samples from Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Rajasthan had tested positive for the H5N8 strain of the virus, whereas the samples from Himachal Pradesh had tested positive for the H5N1.

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