Toddler Dies of H5N1 Bird Flu After Eating Raw Chicken; Here's Why It Could Be Dangerous

A two-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh's Palnadu district died from H5N1 avian influenza after her parents made her eat a piece of raw chicken. According to health authorities, the toddler’s death is the state's first documented human fatality from bird flu and the second in India — after a case in Haryana in 2021.

The girl was admitted to AIIMS-Mangalagiri with symptoms of bird flu early last month and died on March 16. However, the case came to light after swab tests done at the National Institute of Virology in Pune and the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory in Guntur reconfirmed her diagnosis.

A high alert has been declared by the authorities, directing all district medical and health officers to conduct fever screenings in vulnerable areas. "We are also looking for people with unusual symptoms," principal secretary (health) MT Krishna Babu told media persons. Officials say as of now there is no cause for alarm, as the death of the girl was linked to having raw chicken rather than human-to-human transmission.

The girls admitted to feeding her a piece of raw chicken in February, something they had done previously as well. However, within days she began showing signs of uneasiness, including breathlessness and severe diarrhoea. She was first taken to a local hospital and later to AIIMS as her condition worsened. There, the doctors collected nasal swab samples, confirming influenza A.

Further testing identified the H5N1 virus, with NIV reconfirming the results before the girl's death.

Nasal swabs have also been collected from other family members, all of whom have admitted to eating raw chicken but remain unaffected as of now. All their initial tests have also come back negative. "We have once again collected nasal swab samples from the family members and sent them to VRDL for analysis," a senior health official was quoted by Times of India.

According to experts, the bird flu virus cannot survive at temperatures above 60 to 70 degrees Celsius, and so it is important not to consume raw meats. And apart from the highly contagious virus, raw meats and chicken also contain harmful bacteria, eating which, even in tiny amounts, can lead to life-threatening symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a disease of birds that particularly affects domestic poultry such as chickens, turkeys, and ducks. All forms of Avian influenza are caused by viruses. Some forms of avian influenza have only mild symptoms in birds; some are more serious; and a few lead to devastating illness resulting in death for most birds in a flock.

There are two classifications of bird flu –pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Birds who contract LPAI sometimes do not exhibit any symptoms or show mild ones, like ruffled feathers or a decrease in egg production.

Birds with HPAI exhibit more severe symptoms such as lack of energy or appetite, lack of coordination, coughing, sneezing, or nasal secretions. HPAI may also cause high mortality in chickens, sometimes 90-100 per cent.

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