Hyderabad News: Avian influenza a cause of concern

Hyderabad: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday confirmed the world’s first death due to avian influenza (H5N2) in Mexico, even as an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu has been wreaking havoc in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and several countries for the past several months. Given that H5N2, a subtype of influenza A virus (H5N1), has started fatally infecting humans apart from animals, this should be a wake-up call for the state government and its public health wing to formulate and implement active surveillance and genetic testing plans to monitor the spread of avian influenza in animals and take appropriate action wherever there is a risk of outbreak. Thanks to its surveillance system, Kerala started detecting H5N1 cases in April itself and has been able to control large outbreaks, which usually have the potential to spread to humans. Tamil Nadu has already set up border checkpoints for vigilance teams comprising veterinarians and support staff. Vehicles carrying poultry products to such locations are being stopped and disinfection measures are being taken or turned back. However, no such proactive measures have been taken so far by the state of Telangana, which has open borders with several states including Karnataka. According to the WHO, the most likely route of H5N2 infection in the deceased person in Mexico could be through poultry. “Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, H5N2 viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico. Human infections caused by a new influenza A virus subtype are likely to have a very high public health impact,” the WHO said. Whenever avian influenza viruses circulate in poultry, there is a risk of small clusters of infection and human cases due to exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments. Therefore, sporadic human cases are not unexpected. Human cases of infection with other H5 subtypes, including A(H5N1), A(H5N6) and A(H5N8) viruses, have been reported before, WHO clarified. Whenever influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, the possibility of human infection should be a major reason for health departments to be proactive and focus on large-scale surveillance, inspection and genetic testing.