No threat of avian influenza outbreak in India’s West Bengal: health officials

NEW DELHI, June 14 (Xinhua) – Health officials in India’s eastern state of West Bengal Friday said there was no threat of avian influenza or bird flu outbreak in the state.

The officials said there was no reason to panic and no advisory vis-a-vis avian influenza outbreak was in place in the state.

“There is no fresh incidence of any transmission of human-to-human or bird-to-human noticed,” said West Bengal Principal Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam.

The officials also clarified there was no restriction on the consumption of poultry products, such as chicken, eggs and duck meat.

According to the health department, a child from Kaliachak in Malda district was diagnosed with avian influenza in January and recovered after treatment. There was another child, who traveled from Kolkata to Australia in February and tested positive for the disease, after arriving there.

Following the detection of the cases, the health department conducted active surveillance of the family members and other people, and none tested positive for the virus.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization confirmed a human case of bird flu in West Bengal. According to the global health body, human infection with bird flu caused by the H9N2 virus was detected in a four-year-old child in West Bengal.

The child has recovered and was discharged from the hospital three months after diagnosis and treatment.

This is the second human infection of avian influenza A (H9N2) notified to WHO from India, with the first in 2019. ■