- India’s first case of Avian influenza or Bird flu caused by a rare variety of H9N2 virus has been reported in a 17-month-old boy of Maharashtra.
- The infection is caused by a rare variety of H9N2 virus, which is a subtype of the influenza A virus that leads to human influenza as well as bird flu.
- The viruses are found in wild birds and are endemic in poultry in some countries.
- The report was revealed in the December 2019 issue of the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), by scientists of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
