Milan Sharma
New Delhi
July 20, 2021
UPDATED: July 20, 2021 21:47 IST
The staff at AIIMS-Delhi has been placed in isolation after an 11-year-old boy succumbed to bird flu (Avian Influenza) at the facility on Tuesday.
An 11-year-old boy who was undergoing treatment for H5N1- Avian Influenza has died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. This is the first bird flu death recorded in the country since the beginning of this year.
The entire staff at AIIMS, New Delhi, has been placed in isolation as a preventative measure.
Bird flu outbreaks were reported across the country earlier this year, including in Haryana where experts detected the H5N8 subtype of the Avian Influenza virus. This strain is not known to infect humans.
The central government had sounded an alert when cases of bird flu were confirmed in Delhi and eight states - Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana.
Culling of birds was carried out in large numbers across the country in a bid to counter the spread of the infection.
In Delhi, samples collected from the Red Fort had tested positive for bird flu in January. The Delhi government had then ordered the closure of the Ghazipur poultry market.
More samples collected for the National Zoological Park in Delhi had returned positive for Avian Influenza in February.
Avian Influenza had resurfaced in April when as many as 100 migratory birds were found dead in the Pong Dam lake in Himachal Pradesh.
(Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bird-flu-h5n1-avian-influenza-death-aiims-delhi-staff-isolation-1830556-2021-07-20)