According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world’s first human death from avian influenza (H3N8) has occurred. The first victim was a 56-year-old woman living in China.
China has notified the World Health Organization (WHO) that a person infected with the A (H3N8) strain of avian influenza has died.
According to a written statement from WHO, China’s National Health Commission shared the information that A (H3N8) virus was detected in a person on March 27.
To date, 3 people have been infected with A (H3N8), with all cases occurring in China.
The patient reported to be infected with bird flu in China is a 56-year-old woman living in Guangdong province.
On February 22, he contracted the disease, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on March 3 and died on March 16.
While an epidemiological investigation and close contact tracing was conducted for the newly reported case, no other cases were found among the contacts of the infected individual.
This virus is not characterized by easy human-to-human spread and is therefore considered to have a low risk of spreading between people at national, regional and international levels.
Noting that influenza viruses are constantly evolving in nature, WHO emphasizes the importance of global surveillance to detect virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with circulating influenza viruses that may affect human or animal health.
China’s National Health Commission announced the first human infection of the A (H3N8) strain of avian influenza in April 2022.
