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 said.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.

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 said.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.