1st Human Case Of ‘Bird Flu’ Reported In Australia:
A child who came back to Victoria from India in March was the first person in Australia to get the H5N1 bird flu.
- The child had a serious sickness, but now fully better. Victoria’s chief health officer confirmed that there have been no more cases tied to this incident.
- This shows how rare it is for this strain to be passed from person to person.
- Avian influenza, also called “bird flu,” is a very contagious virus that affects many types of birds, both wild and tame.
- It mostly spreads through direct touch or places that are contaminated with germs.
- People can get infected with the H5N1 type and get very sick from it, but this doesn’t happen very often.
- Other strains, like H7N7, which is more common in Australia, have mostly harmed poultry.
- The H7N7 strain was found at an egg farm in Victoria, which is different from the H5N1 type found in the child.
- After this was found, Agriculture Victoria started checking right away and putting farms within 5 km of the affected farm under quarantine.
- As part of the quick reaction, animals that are infected with the virus will be killed to stop the outbreak from spreading.
