Odisha has culled more than a thousand chickens following a confirmed H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the Puri district. The outbreak occurred after the deaths of 1,800 birds at a local poultry farm. Efforts are ongoing to cull approximately 20,000 birds to prevent further spread, given the virus's potential risk to animals and humans.
The outbreak detected on Monday in Brittany means France loses its international status as being free of bird flu, though the authorities are maintaining their nationwide alert level at its lowest, the ministry said.
The WHO said the United States last week reported a fourth human case of H5N1 avian influenza following exposure to infected dairy cows, while Cambodia had reported two cases in children who had contact with sick or dead chickens.
None of the samples of poultry birds from different parts of West Bengal tested positive for bird flu, a senior official said on Thursday, maintaining that there was no need to panic. The state government was not considering any restriction on the consumption of poultry items as of now, Health Secretary N S Nigam said.
According to the WHO, the patient had exposure to poultry at home and in the surroundings. There were no known persons reporting symptoms of respiratory illness in the family, the neighbourhood, or among healthcare workers at health facilities attended by the case at the time of reporting.
In a Friday press conference in Geneva, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier described the man's case as a "multifactorial death" and noted that experts were still investigating whether he was infected by someone or by contact with animals.
H5N1 first emerged in 1996 but since 2020, the number of outbreaks in birds has grown exponentially, alongside an increase in the number of infected mammals.
Although there have been sporadic reports in humans and outbreaks among domestic and wild birds, since March 2024, there is a global concern over Avian influenza outbreaks in cattle from multiple states in the US that have resulted in one reported human case of H5N1, the joint advisory stated.
The current crop of influenza vaccines has limitations in effectively combating the billion cases of seasonal influenza each year as they provide immunity against only one specific existing strain or mutation. The propensity of flu viruses to mutate into new strains means vaccines must be continuously monitored and reformulated each year.
After the suspicious deaths of ducks at the farm, a sample test at the High Security Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal confirmed bird flu. Approximately six rapid action teams have been deployed at the farm.
The farm worker from Texas was reported to be infected on April 1, making it the second case of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, identified in a person in the United States.
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