India Reports First Human Death From Bird Flu

A health worker sprays sanitizer outside a house as a precautionary measure against the bird flu in Sola area, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, on March 5, 2021. Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images

NEW DELHI—An 11-year-old boy has died in India from a bird flu virus of the H5N1 strain, the first such fatality in the country, highlighting a potential new risk for the world’s second-most populous nation battling the coronavirus pandemic.

The boy was admitted at New Delhi’s premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences on July 2 and died on Tuesday after a multi-organ failure, a government statement said.