1st Human Death From H5N1 In India – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• A 11-year-old boy from Haryana who died today at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was infected with the H5N1 virus, which is also called ‘avian influenza’ or ‘bird flu’.
• This is believed to be the first case of H5N1 among humans in India, and the first bird flu death this year.
• A report from Pune’s National Institute of Virology confirmed the infection.
• 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 by the NIV.
• Staff who came in contact with the boy, identified as Susheel and admitted July 2 with pneumonia and leukemia,
• Have been asked to self-monitor for symptoms and report in case of a possible infection.
• A team from the National Centre for Disease Control has been sent to Susheel’s village in Haryana to check for more H5N1 cases and carry out contact tracing.

What is Influenza?

• Influenza — also known as the flu — is a contagious viral infection that attacks your respiratory system.
• Influenza viruses that infect humans can be classified into three main groups: A, B, and C.
• Type A influenza infection can be serious and cause widespread outbreaks and disease.

Different strains of Flu A

• At least 131 different subtypes of influenza A virus have been detected in nature,
• All but two of which can infect birds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States.
• The influenza A virus has two proteins on its surface – hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N).
• Both H & N have 18 and 11 different subtypes respectively, leading to different combinations such as H3N2 and H7N9.
• There are some strains which only infect birds, while others can infect birds as well as mammals such as pigs, dogs, horses and also
• Wild aquatic birds are the natural hosts for most of these subtypes, but the infection generally does not cause sickness in these birds.
• Poultry birds such as chickens are more adversely affected.

How many of these strains can infect humans?

• Mostly, humans have only experienced infections by three different H types (H1, H2 and H3), and two different N types (N1 and N2).
• Presently, two subtypes, H1N1 and H3N2, circulate among human beings, causing the seasonal flu epidemics.
• Since these strains are well adapted to humans, they are referred to as human flu rather than bird flu.
• Whenever a new flu A virus establishes itself in humans, it can cause a pandemic, and four such pandemics have occurred since 1918, including-
• The Spanish flu (H1N1),
• The 1957-58 Asian flu (H2N2),
• The 1968 Hong Kong flu (H3N2) and
• The 2009 swine flu (newer version of the H1N1).

What about other strains?

• Other flu A virus strains typically affect wild birds and poultry, but occasionally infect humans as well,
• Such as the H5N1 strain which has killed hundreds of people in various countries since 1997.
• But it is not known to transmit from human to human, and is primarily is a bird flu virus.

Bird flu in India

• Earlier this year thousands of wild birds were found dead and tens of thousands of poultry were culled after a massive wave of bird flu cases swept several states, including Haryana.
• Several of the infections, however, were from a different strain of the virus – H5N8 – which experts say is less dangerous to humans.
• By January-end the centre sounded an alert as it confirmed bird flu among poultry in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, as well as Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, UP and Punjab.
• Over 50,000 birds were killed in Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala each as precaution, with thousands more killed in other states.
• Bird flu cases were also reported among migratory birds and crows in forests in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag, Jharkhand’s Tetar and Gujarat’s Junagad, as well as peacocks in Beed in Maharashtra.
• The spread of cases prompted some states to ban the sale of poultry for some time, particularly for stock imported from other states, and also restrict sale of chicken or egg-based dishes by restaurants.

Mortality rate

• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), human cases of H5N1 are rare but if infected, the mortality rate is about 60%.

Properly cooked food

• The chances of the H5N1 virus infecting humans is comparatively low in India as compared to South East Asian countries, mainly because of the difference in culinary habits.
• The virus dies immediately if exposed to temperatures over 70 degrees Celsius.
• Unlike in South East Asian countries, both meat and eggs in India are eaten well cooked, which sees them being exposed to over 100 degrees Celsius.

Q) Where did the avian flu originate?

1. The Middle East
2. Southeast Asia
3. Australia
4. China

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