4-Year-Old Kid From West Bengal Tested Bird Flu Positive, Confirms WHO

Kolkata: A four-year-old kid has tested positive for bird flu in West Bengal, confirmed World Health Organisation (WHO). This is the second human infection of the H9N2 bird flu case in India, while the first was detected in 2019.

Informing about the case, the WHO confirmed that the patient was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) of a local hospital due to persistent severe respiratory issues, high fever, and abdominal cramps in February. The kid was discharged three months later after diagnosis and treatment.

Reportedly, the patient had poultry at home and there were no known person with symptoms of respiratory illness among the kid’s family and other contacts.

Furthermore, the WHO added that information on the vaccination status and details of antiviral treatment were not available at the time of reporting.

It is worth mentioning here that, bird flu, also called Avian influenza, is caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. As per WHO, it gets transferred among animals, but it can also infect humans.

The health organization further mentioned that maintaining personal and hand hygiene, including washing hands with soap, before and after contact with animals is essential to avoid being infected by the virus.