Australia’s 1st human case of bird flu confirmed in child

The case in Victoria involves an H5N1 virus, but the strain is not the same as those responsible for outbreaks in the United States, Looker said.

Australia reported its first human case of avian influenza on Wednesday in a child who authorities said had been infected in India but made a full recovery, while a different highly contagious strain was found on an egg farm.

The H5N1 strain of avian flu has swept the globe in recent years, killing billions of farmed and wild birds and spreading to tens of mammal species.

Health authorities in Australia’s southeastern state of Victoria said contact tracing had not identified any further cases and there was a very low chance of others becoming infected as the flu does not easily spread between people.

“This is the first confirmed human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Australia,” Dr Claire Looker, the state’s chief health officer, said in a statement.

It was the first instance of detection of the H5N1 strain in a person or animal in the country, she added.

“The child experienced a severe infection but is no longer unwell and has made a full recovery.”

The case in Victoria involves an H5N1 virus, but the strain is not the same as those responsible for outbreaks in the United States, Looker said.

A farm worker in Texas tested positive for the virus earlier this year as it spread through the U.S. cattle herd.