Australia has reported its first confirmed case of human bird flu on Wednesday, detected in a child who is believed to have contracted the virus while in India.
The child, who was unwell in March this year, has made a full recovery, said the state health officials.
The Victorian Department of Health confirmed the case of avian influenza A(H5N1) infection, also known as ‘bird flu’, in Victoria. They reassured that there is no evidence of transmission in Victoria and the chance of additional human cases is very low as avian influenza does not easily spread between people.
The case was announced hours after bird flu was detected on a farm in Victoria. However, the strain found on the farm was a different H7N7 variety.
Humans are not at risk from this virus unless they had contact with infected birds or animals or their secretions. Rarely, avian influenza infection in humans can pass to another person with prolonged contact. However, there is no evidence that the H5N1 strains of avian influenza circulating globally can spread easily from human to human.
This is the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Australia, and the first detected case of the H5N1 strain in the country. Bird flu in poultry was last detected in Australia in 2020.
