New Delhi: Earlier this month, the first human case of H5N1 bird flu was reported in a child in Australia who had a travel history to India. After weeks of its detection, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the child who contracted the virus had travelled to Kolkata, India. Still, as per the family, they had no known exposure to infected people or animals during their visit.
The WHO, on May 22 announced that the child was hospitalised on March 2 and he was admitted for over two weeks. As per the latest report, the child had travelled to Kolkata from February 12 to 19 and then returned to Australia on March 1, reported TOI.
Genetic sequencing found the virus subtype H5N1
Further, the WHO noted that in genetic sequencing, it has been found that the virus was subtype H5N1 and part of a strain that circulates in Southeast Asia and has been found in previous human infections and in poultry.
In a report on Reuters, Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said, it is crucial to check if the child was in contact with poultry or other birds or if there was any outbreak of this version of H5N1.
How do H5N1 transmit?
According to Adalja, the H5N1 viruses do not spread efficiently between humans and it is suspected that there’s occult animal exposure that led to the infection. In this incident, a 2.5-year-old female child with no diseases. She had a travel history to Kolkata, India from 12 to 29 February 2024 and she came back to Australia on March 1 2024.
Symptoms that the child suffered
As per reports, the child started to feel unwell on February 25 2024, with symptoms of loss of appetite, irritability and fever. She was febrile and suffered a cough and vomiting, after this she was given paracetamol in the hospital.
After weeks of the first human case of H5N1 bird flu was reported in a child in Australia who had a travel history to India, the World Health Organization confirmed that the contracted may have contracted the virus during the visit to Kolkata. Health Conditions Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
