H5N1 avian flu scare in Chennai: Several crow deaths reported; public health advisory issued

CHENNAI: The mysterious deaths of several crows in Chennai last month have been confirmed as caused by the H5N1 avian influenza.Following a TOI report on the unexplained crow fatalities in Adyar, the Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry Department’s Animal Disease Intelligence Unit collected samples from the city in the fourth week of January and sent them to the ICAR-NIHAS laboratory in Bhopal.

Tests confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, known for its zoonotic potential.The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has written to the Tamil Nadu chief secretary confirming the H5N1 outbreak and urging the state to enhance biosecurity measures and disinfection, with civic bodies instructed to thoroughly disinfect areas where bird deaths were reported.The Union ministry has urged the state to report unusual mortality, intensify poultry surveillance and alert forest and wildlife departments.

The ministry said the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) raises serious concerns, and has sought reports on cases, deaths, killed and disposed birds.Key instructions ban bare-handed contact with dead birds; handlers must wear gloves and wash thoroughly with soap and water. Veterinary staff should not perform field postmortems; instead, they must send carcasses to designated regional disease diagnostic laboratories.

Officials emphasized safe disposal of either burning or burying dead crows and poultry at least 8-10 feet deep to prevent scavenging animals from spreading the virus. Forest department teams must conduct extensive checks in wooded areas for wild bird deaths.Following confirmation of the spread of H5N1 avian influenza, the state’s directorate of public health and preventive medicine issued a public health advisory on Thursday. “Transmission from birds to humans is extremely rare, except in cases where people touch carcasses with the live virus in them and then touch body parts such as mouth or eyes. There are not many such cases reported historically and there is no need to panic,” said director of public health Dr A Somasundaram.The department, nevertheless, asked people experiencing influenza-like symptoms such as fever, cough, cold, sore throat, or body pain to seek medical attention immediately.

Poultry workers, bird handlers, and those who came into contact with dead birds were asked to remain vigilant and report any symptoms to the nearest govt health facility. The department also urged the public to report unusual bird deaths, maintain strict personal hygiene,avoid undercooked meat and raw or partially cooked eggs, to stay away from areas where bird flu was reported, and refrain from spreading rumours.GCC veterinary officer J Kamal Hussain said they have instructed sanitation workers to alert them of group-deaths of crows. "We are identifying land for an 8-10feet burial. We have not reported many deaths in the last week," he said.The outbreak echoes similar H5N1 detections in Kerala and Bihar too. Globally, the World Health Organization reports 261 human infections from 2003-2024, mostly severe. In India, no human cases have surfaced, said Dr Ram Gopalakrishnan, infectious diseases specialist at Apollo Hospitals. “It’s circulating abroad, but we’ve dodged it so far. Vigilance is key.”