China Pneumonia News: India prepared for any kind of public health exigency, says Centre amid child pneumonia outbreak in China | India News

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry on Friday said there is a “low risk” to India from the recent outbreak of H9N2 and pneumonia cases being reported in parts of China. However, the ministry said that it is closely monitoring the situation.
In a statement, the health ministry noted that there have been media reports about the rising cases of respiratory illness among children in northern China.

“The usual causes of respiratory illness in children have been implicated and there has been no identification of an unusual pathogen or any unexpected clinical manifestations,” it said.

The ministry said that a meeting was recently held under the chairmanship of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to discuss the preparedness measures against human cases of avian Influenza in India amid a human case of H9N2 (Avian influenza virus) reported in China in October 2023.
“The overall risk assessment by WHO indicates a low probability of human to human spread and low case fatality rate among human cases of H9N2 reported to WHO so far,” it said.
The ministry added that there is a need for strengthening surveillance among human, animal husbandry and wild life sectors and improving coordination.
The statement that India is prepared for any kind of “public health exigency”.
It noted that there has also been a significant strengthening of health infrastructure especially after the Covid pandemic.
It noted that India’s surveillance and detection networks now have ample experience of dealing with challenging health situations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
China has been grappling with a spike in respiratory illnesses, with cases among children appearing especially high in northern areas like Beijing and Liaoning province.
The World Health Organization has sought data from Chinese authorities following the outbreak of such cases and has urged the citizens to take precausions. However, no unusual or novel pathogens has been detected so far.