"No Need To Panic": AIIMS Chief Says Human-To-Human Bird Flu Transmission Rare

AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria's remark came after a 12-year-old boy from Haryana, who was infected with the bird flu virus, recently died at AIIMS Delhi.

As the country reported the first confirmed case of human death due to avian influenza, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday said that human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus is very rare and there is no need to panic. However, there is a need to do contact tracing and also take samples and look for any poultry deaths in the area from where the child who died due to the virus was residing, the AIIMS director told PTI. A 12-year-old boy from Haryana, who was infected with the H5N1 virus, recently died at AIIMS Delhi. The National Institute of Virology, Pune had confirmed the infection, Dr Guelria said. "The transmission of the virus from birds to humans is rare and sustained human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus has not yet been established and therefore there is no need to panic.