The WHO announced that an Australian girl suffered a severe case of bird flu in March
A two-year-old girl from Australia needed intensive care in hospital after contracting H5N1 bird flu in the spring, according to the World Health Organization.
“This is the first confirmed human infection caused by avian influenza A (H5N1) virus detected and reported by Australia,” the WHO said in a statement, on Friday.
Although the source of exposure is unknown, it’s believed she caught the virus in India, where she had been travelling with her family. The girl was travelling in Kolkata for two weeks in February, but she had no know exposure to any sick people or animals in the city.
After returning to Australia on 1 March, she was admitted to hospital the next day. On 4 March she was transferred to intensive care, as her symptoms worsened. She remained in hospital for two-and-a-half weeks.
The girl tested positive for influenza at the hospital, and the samples were sent for further analysis.
“Virus genetic sequence obtained from the samples confirmed the subtype A(H5N1)… which circulates in southeast Asia and has been detected in previous human infections and in poultry,” the WHO said.
The girl has recovered and no relatives or close contacts of the family have developed symptoms.
Authorities in India are investigating.
The revelation comes in the wake of controversy about the supposed death of a man from bird flu in Mexico. The WHO reported last week that a 59-year-old man had died of bird flu, but the Mexican government died this, stating that the cause of death remained unknown, since the man was suffering multiple serious health conditions.
The unnamed man suffered from chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, all of which could have influenced or caused his death. He had been bedridden for weeks before dying.
Amid widening fears about a possible bird-flu pandemic, countries around the world are stockpiling vaccines.
The US government is also poised to invest millions of dollars in the development of new vaccines to combat the virus. The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is set to reach an agreement with Moderna to fund human trials for its experimental mRNA bird-flu vaccine. As part of the deal, the US government would commit to stockpiling millions of the vaccines if the human trials are successful.
Three human cases of bird flu have been reported in the US so far, all in dairy workers. None have reported serious symptoms and all have been treated with antiviral medication.
There have been no known cases of human-to-human transmission yet.
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