E-Paper
2-year-old girl died due to bird flu in Andhra Pradesh: Official
Officials made a visit to the girl’s house on Monday and got confirmation that the girl had eaten a small piece of raw chicken — a possible cause of contracting the disease
Hyderabad: A two-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh reportedly succumbed to bird flu more than a fortnight ago, an official said on Wednesday.
The official said the infant died on March 16, and the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) confirmed on March 24 that she had contracted bird flu after testing her sample.
“The girl died of bird flu while undergoing treatment at AIIMS-Mangalagiri,” said a health department official. However, none of the child’s family members have contracted bird flu, the official said.
On Monday, the state health department officials made a visit to the girl’s house and got confirmation that the girl had eaten a small piece of raw chicken on February 26 — a possible cause of contracting the disease. Family members said the girl occasionally ate a piece or two of raw chicken and that she had consumed one before her symptoms began to appear.
She developed fever and other symptoms on Feb 28 and was admitted to a local hospital. On March 4, she was admitted to AIIMS Manglagiri after she developed symptoms of acute fever, breathing difficulties and diarrhoea.
The girl was staying with her parents --- father a bank recovery agent and mother a housewife – in Baliah Nagar in Narasaopet town in Palnadu district. Officials said blood samples of all family members were tested and they were negative for bird flu.
Animal Husbandry Department Director, Dr T Damodar Naidu, said no other case of bird flu has been reported from Palnadu and neighbouring districts. “We conducted physical surveillance of all poultry farms in the region and found no symptoms of bird flu among poultry,” he said.
Dr Naidu said that the girl possibly got bird flu after eating raw chicken whereas the family consumed cooked chicken. “We will advise people to consume chicken and egg after cooking well as bird flu virus does not survive in temperatures above 60-70 degrees Celsius,” he said.
HT has reached out to the Union health ministry for an update on this incident. The story will be updated once we receive a reply.
