All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, on Wednesday recorded the first bird flu death in the country for this year after an 11-year-old boy undergoing treatment for H5N1 Avian influenza died at its paediatric department.
The entire staff at AIIMS, New Delhi, has been placed in isolation as a preventative measure.
Sources said that his samples tested negative for COVID-19 (testing for which is now routine at hospitals) but was positive for influenza and H5N1 was confirmed by the NIV.
The boy was admitted on July 2 with pneumonia and leukaemia. A team from the National Centre for Disease Control has been sent to the boy’s village in Haryana to check for more H5N1 cases and carry out contact tracing.
Bird flu outbreaks were reported across the country earlier this year, including in Haryana where experts detected the H5N8 subtype of the Avian Influenza virus. This strain is not known to infect humans.
The central government had sounded an alert when cases of bird flu were confirmed in Delhi and at least ten states, including Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana. Culling of birds was carried out in large numbers across the country in a bid to counter the spread of infection.
What is Avian influenza?
Avian influenza is a strain of the influenza virus that primarily infects birds, but can also infect humans. This type of flu is most often contracted by contact with sick birds. It can also be passed from person to person.
