Australia has marked its first recorded human case of a virulent strain of bird flu in a child who fell sick after returning from overseas.
The child contracted the H5N1 strain of the disease, which has been spreading globally and causing widespread deaths among birds, upon returning to the Australian state of Victoria. The youngster reportedly suffered a “severe infection” after returning from India in March, but has since made a full recovery, Victoria's chief health officer confirmed on Wednesday.
“This is the first human case of H5N1 avian influenza in Australia,” Dr Clare Looker said. “The avian influenza virus was detected through further testing of positive influenza samples that takes place to detect novel or concerning flu virus strains, as part of Victoria's enhanced surveillance system.
READ MORE: Chicken farm lays off 400 staff after bird flu decimates poultry population
Experts at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong are examining the samples (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)“Contact tracing has not identified any further cases of avian influenza connected to this case," she added. Avian influenza does not easily spread between humans so the chances of additional cases in people was low, Dr Looker said.
Man fined £165 after outraging the internet by dying puppy to look like Pikachu
On the same day, agricultural authorities revealed a different strain of bird flu had been detected in another part of Victoria at an egg farm. Authorities were alerted after a number of poultry deaths at the farm near Meredith, about 40km northwest of Geelong. Agriculture Victoria has ordered urgent testing after avian influenza was detected at the site.
That outbreak likely involved the H7N7 strain, not the highly pathogenic H5N1 variant, Chief Veterinary Officer Graeme Cooke said. “There is a type of virus which is causing great concern in the USA and other parts of the world and has behaved unusually in that it has infected dairy cattle and some other marine mammals,' Dr Cooke told the ABC's Country Hour.
“This is not the strain that we're dealing with. This is a strain that's occurred in Australia before. It's likely not new.” H7N7 is the most common type of bird flu in Australia and a H7 strain was one of those in the last bird flu outbreak in the country in 2020 which affected a third of egg farms in Victoria.
Testing is currently underway to find out if this new outbreak is the same strain as the 2020 virus. Meanwhile, the farm has been quarantined up to a 5km radius and affected animals will be destroyed. Experts at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong are examining the samples.
Bird flu is highly contagious and can wipe out entire populations of domestic poultry. Wild birds are the hosts and contamination can occur when they come into contact with farmed birds.
More than 50 mammal species have been found to have the deadly H5N1 including humans. Many infected people have mild or no symptoms but some can get severely ill. Eggs and poultry products in supermarkets do not pose a risk to the public, local authorities said.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
