H9N2: India’s first case detected by National Institute of Virology, Pune

H9N2: India’s first case detected by National Institute of Virology, Pune

Part of: GS Prelims – Diseases and GS-II- Health

In News

• H9N2 viruses have been observed in poultry in India several times. However, this is the first identification of the clinical human case of H9N2 virus infection
• It H9N2 is a subtype of the influenza A virus, which causes human influenza as well as bird flu.
• The H9N2 subtype was isolated for the first time in Wisconsin, US in 1966 from turkey flocks.
• H9N2 virus infections in humans are rare, but likely under-reported due to typically mild symptoms of the infections. Cases of human infection have been observed in Hong Kong, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Egypt