In the first bird flu death recorded in the country this year, an 11-year-old boy who was undergoing treatment for H5N1- Avian Influenza has died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
According to the report, the entire staff at AIIMS, New Delhi, has been placed in isolation as a preventative measure. 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.
Avian Influenza had resurfaced in March when 261 poultry birds were found dead in Maharashtra’s Amravati and Nandurbar districts. Fear of infection peaked again in April when as many as 100 migratory birds were found dead in the Pong Dam lake in Himachal Pradesh.
Image Source – Google