Haryana boy with bird flu infected at poultry shop? Tracing finds no other case

Gurgaon: Sushil Kumar, the 11-year-old boy from Gurgaon who had contracted the H5N1 avian influenza and died at Delhi’s AIIMS on July 11, was also suffering from leukaemia and pneumonia and had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for more than a month.

According to the health department, the boy used to live with his grandmother in Chakkarpur. His parents, who are originally from Bihar, have been staying in Gurgaon for the past two months. Sushil’s grandmother’s partner works at a meat shop, which is right next to a poultry shop. The livestock for this shop came from Rajasthan. The health department suspects the boy might have caught the infection from the shop. A report from Pune’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) has already confirmed H5N1 influenza virus.

The institute is now conducting whole genome sequencing of samples collected from the child. The Union health ministry on Wednesday said that the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is conducting epidemiological investigation involving the animal husbandry department and the Haryana government’s surveillance unit. Gurgaon health officials said contract tracing within a 10km radius has been initiated. Five rapid response teams have so far screened more than 7,500 people in the area. The animal husbandry department’s deputy director, Dr Punita Gahlawat, said it has not detected any suspected cases of bird flu till now.

“We conduct regular and random inspections at poultry farms and send samples for testing every month,” she added. Meanwhile, the boy’s family members said they are still waiting for a death certificate from AIIMS. Sushil’s father Jitender Saha told TOI his son had been running a fever on and off in May, became very pale and developed ‘bluish’ rashes on his legs.