Context: Recently, an 11-year-old boy died of H5N1 avian influenza in Delhi which is the first recorded death due to the bird flu in India in 2021.
About

• Bird flu or avian influenza is a disease caused by avian influenza Type A viruses found naturally in wild birds worldwide.
• The virus can infect domestic poultry including chickens, ducks and turkeys.
• Avian Influenza type A viruses are classified based on two proteins on their surfaces i.e. Hemagglutinin (HA) and Neuraminidase (NA).

Bird Flu Infection in Humans

• There have been reports of avian and swine influenza infections in humans including A(H1N1), A(H1N2), A(H5N1), A(H7N9), etc.
• The first report of human H5N1 infection was in 1997 and currently, over 700 human cases of Asian Highly Pathogenic Asian Avian Influenza A (HPAI) H5N1 virus have been reported.
• The most common route of virus transmission is direct contact i.e. when a person comes in close contact with infected birds, either dead or alive.
• Humans can also be affected if they come in contact with contaminated surfaces or air near the infected poultry.
• There is no sufficient evidence suggesting the spread of the virus through properly cooked meat.