Bengal confirms ‘no bird flu cases’ amid public concerns
Kolkata: Health secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam and additional chief secretary of Animal Resources Development Vivek Kumar on Thursday said that Bengal has no bird flu cases and there are no restrictions for people in eating eggs or chicken meats.
Their statements came at a time when confusions were spread among the people about bird flu as the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported a case of human infection by bird flu virus that had happened in February-March this year.
Both the officials urged the people not to panic.
During a joint press conference, Nigam said that a 2.5-year-old child was infected with influenza in Malda’s Kaliachak. The patient was taken to the Malda Medical College and later shifted to the NRS Medical College in the city.
The National Institute of Virology in March-April through genome sequencing tests confirmed that the child was positive with avian influenza A(H9N2) viruses. During the second test, no virus was found in the child who is fit now. Another child aged 4 who came to the city from Australia was found positive with avian influenza virus with H5N1 strain.
The virus was not transmitted to anybody from these two children. Even the Influenza-like illness survey confirmed that no transmission occurred.
Additional chief secretary of Animal Resources Development Vivek Kumar said that around 1,728 chicken samples were tested from April to May from various poultry firms but no avian influenza source was detected. Around 390 samples were tested from Malda as well and no trace of virus was found. The bird flu infection is a type of infection caused by avian influenza Type A viruses. Usually, it is expected to affect wild aquatic birds, domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. However, human cases of bird flu infection are not unusual and have been reported in the past.
The risk of bird flu infection can be reduced by avoiding prolonged exposure to infected birds and livestock. The health body also recommends avoiding uncooked or undercooked food with special attention towards those linked to poultry.
