China reports first human death from H3N8 bird flu, as per WHO
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the first H3N8 bird flu death in China. The identified person is a 56-year-old woman from the southeast Chinese province of Guangdong.
The woman reported symptoms and became ill on February 22, according to WHO. She was hospitalized on March 3 for severe pneumonia and died on March 16. As a result, it is the first known case of human fatality. This infection case came into light through the severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance system.
Experts believe the woman became infected after being exposed to a live poultry market. "The patient had multiple underlying conditions. She had a history of exposure to live poultry before the onset of the disease and a history of wild bird presence around her home. No close contacts of the case developed an infection or symptoms of illness at the time of reporting," said WHO in an official statement.
Previous recorded human cases
Since its initial appearance in waterfowl in North America in 2002, H3N8 has been known to be circulating. It is known that H3N8 can also infect seals, dogs, and horses.
Humans can contract bird flu through direct or indirect contact with infected live or dead poultry, as well as by exposure to contaminated surroundings. Although this type of bird flu is said to be rare in humans and so far only three cases have been diagnosed (all from China). Reports state that “two non-fatal cases emerged – both also in China – in April and May last year.”
According to the WHO, of the two cases that were found last year, one person experienced a serious illness while the other displayed mild symptoms. The aforementioned instances, according to WHO, may have been ill after "direct or indirect exposure to infected poultry."
However, at the moment the situation is not alarming. “It appears that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person, and therefore the risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low,” WHO stated.
“However, due to the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses, WHO stresses the importance of global surveillance to detect virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with circulating influenza viruses which may affect human (or animal) health.”
Nevertheless, the WHO advises wearing respiratory protection when outside in a potentially dangerous setting, such as an animal market, along with practicing basic hand hygiene
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