Avian influenza cause for concern

TS yet to take proactive measures to check the spread

Hyderabad: Testing times are ahead for the public healthcare system with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday confirming the world’s first human fatality due to avian influenza (H5N2) in Mexico and the havoc wreaked, for the past several months in Indian States of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and also several countries, by H5N1bird flu outbreak.

Given the fact that H5N2, which is a subtype of influenza A virus (H5N1), has started to fatally infect humans, in addition to livestock, it should be a wakeup call for the State government and its public health wing to frame and implement proactive surveillance and genetic testing plans to monitor the spread of avian influenza among livestock and take appropriate action wherever there is a risk of an outbreak.

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Thanks to its surveillance system, Kerala started detecting cases of H5N1 way back in April and has been able to control major outbreaks that usually have the potential to trickle down to humans. Tamil Nadu has already set border checkposts for vigilance teams comprising veterinarians and support staff.

At such locations, vehicles transporting poultry products are being stopped and disinfection measures taken up or are turned back. So far, however, none of such proactive measures have been taken up by Telangana State, which has porous borders with multiple States, including Karnataka.

According to the WHO, the most likely route of H5N2 infection to the deceased individual in Mexico could be through poultry. “Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, the H5N2 virus has been reported in poultry in Mexico. A human infection caused by a novel influenza A virus subtype has a potential for high public health impact,” the WHO said.

Whenever avian influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, there is a risk for infection and small clusters of human cases due to exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments. Therefore, sporadic human cases are not unexpected. Human cases of infection with other H5 subtypes, including A(H5N1), A(H5N6) and A(H5N8) viruses, have been reported previously, the WHO made it clear.

The possibility of human infection, whenever the influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, should be a major reason enough for the Health Department to be proactive and focus on large-scale monitoring, surveillance and genetic testing.