The World Health Organization reported on Friday that a two-and-a-half-year-old girl tested positive for H5N1 bird flu and needed hospital intensive care treatment in Australia after visiting India.
In a statement, the UN health agency stated, “This is the first confirmed human infection caused by avian influenza A(H5N1) virus detected and reported by Australia”.
“Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, the exposure likely occurred in India where the girl had traveled, and where this group of viruses has been detected in birds in the past”, the WHO continued.
According to the WHO, the virus poses a low danger to the general public at this time.
The girl visited Kolkata from February 12 to February 29. She had no known encounters with sick individuals or animals while in the city.
The girl returned to Australia on March 1 and was hospitalized in a hospital in southeastern Victoria state the next day.
Due to deteriorating symptoms, she was transported to an intensive care unit facility in Melbourne, the state capital, for one week on March 4. She left the hospital after two and a half weeks.
The girl tested positive for influenza A while in the hospital, and the samples were sent out in April for further analysis.
The WHO went on to say, “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 poultry”.
The girl is believed to be healthy, and no relatives in Australia or India have developed symptoms.
“The Indian authorities have been notified and have started an epidemiological investigation”, the WHO added.
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