Australia Reports Its First Avian Influenza In Human
On Wednesday, Australia reported its first human case of avian influenza, a highly contagious disease found commonly among birds. According to the authorities, the affected was a child, who was infected with the disease from India. Notably, the child has fully recovered from the infection, as per report by news agency Routers. The H5N1 strain of avian flu had killed billions of farmed and wild birds in recent years.
The authorities in Australia has informed that the chance for further spreading is less, noting the the infected disease will not spread easily among people.
In a statement, the state”s chief health officer said that the case registers the first human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Australia, adding that it was also a first instance of detection of the H5N1 strain in a person or animal in Australia. The country had been the lone continent with zero H5N1 avian influenza virus.
“The child experienced a severe infection but is no longer unwell and has made a full recovery,” the officer added.
Notably, a different strain of highly pathogenic bird flu had been detected at an egg farm near Melbourne, according to the health authorities. Graeme Cooke, the chief veterinary officer of Victoria said that the the laboratory tests showed that virus was an as yet unidentified H7 strain. The veterinary officer further said that the virus may have came from the wild bird population, and that the birds would be destroyed. A restriction on the movement of people in the area has also been imposed.
“At this stage we can”t say whether there”ll be any onward spread to other properties. We are now taking measures necessary to stamp it out to remove any onward spread,” Cooke added.
Notably, farm worker in USA had infected with similar virus earlier this year as it spread in the US cattle.
