The Andhra Pradesh Government has called for fever screenings across the state after a two-year-old girl succumbed to H5N1 virus (bird flu) in Narasaraopet in Palnadu district.
This is the second case and second death due to H5N1 ever in India (WHO tracks data 2003 onwards after the global outbreak). The first case and death was that of an 11-year old boy who was treated at AIIMS in 2021.
The girl had died while under treatment for bird flu symptoms on March 16 at AIIMS at Mangalagiri. Her father told officials that on February 27, she chewed on a piece of raw chicken which she asked for while her mother was cooking. Two days later she developed high fever and diarrhoea. She was admitted to AIIMS on March 4. “As per the advice of medical experts, swab samples were taken on March 7 from nose and throat and sent for testing. In spite of being under treatment for nearly a fortnight, she died on March 16. The NIV, Pune, and ICMR have confirmed that the death was due to the H5N1 virus,’’ a health department official said.
What is H5N1?
H5N1 is a type of influenza virus that causes severe respiratory disease in birds, but occasionally it has been known to jump to humans as well. While the infection is not easily transmissible in humans so far, the mortality could be as high as 60% when it does. To compare, mortality rate of Covid-19 was around 3% even with the most virulent variants.
Have there been cases in humans before?
Human infections with H5N1 were first reported in 1997 during a poultry outbreak in Hong Kong. Human cases have mostly been reported from Asia, with some cases from Africa, Americas and Europe. Almost all cases these cases have been in people who were in close contact with infected birds.
What about prevention?
Medical officers in all districts have been directed to start screening of people visiting hospitals and health centres to look for fever and other symptoms, although the government has ruled out a bird flu outbreak. Dozens of chickens died allegedly of bird flu in five poultry farms in Badampudi in Eluru district, Velpur and Kanur in West Godavari district and Gampalagudem in NTR district, and government officials culled hundreds of chickens from these five farms as well as from nearby farms as precautionary measure.
The Central government has also issued guidelines to control the spread of bird flu, and they have been sent to the collectors. According to these guidelines, a one-kilometre radius of the infected area has been declared a red zone and movement and feeding of animals has been restricted there.
Can it cause the next pandemic?
One case is not enough to say that the infection can cause a pandemic. It is too early. The pathogen has to be studied for changes that can make it more transmissible. Avian influenza is not on the WHO priority list of pathogens of pandemic potential.
Source – indianexpress
