China confirms first death from common bird flu H3N8 strain

A strain of bird flu, extremely rare in humans, has claimed the life of a woman in China, officials have confirmed.

according to who A 56-year-old woman from southern China’s Guangdong province is the third person to be recently infected with the H3N8 strain of bird flu, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), all three cases occurring in China. China.

However, two other cases detected in 2022 eventually recovered.

This strain does not spread among humans and is thought to be transmitted from infected animals to humans who come into contact with them.

The WHO confirmed that the woman fell ill on February 22 and died on March 16 after being hospitalized with “severe pneumonia” on March 3.

The woman had “multiple underlying diseases,” “history of contact with live poultry,” and “history of wild birds around her home.”

However, no close contacts of the patient developed symptoms.

Investigations revealed that she likely contracted the disease after visiting a wet market, and later found traces of bird flu in samples taken from the site.

Influenza infections transmitted from animals to humans can cause a wide range of symptoms, from mild to fatal.

Symptoms include conjunctivitis or mild flu-like symptoms to severe acute respiratory illness, although gastrointestinal or neurological symptoms are possible but rare.

“Based on the available information, the virus does not appear to have the ability to spread easily from person to person, so the risk of spread among people at national, regional and international levels is considered low.” who said

“However, due to the ever-evolving nature of influenza viruses, WHO is aware of the virologic, epidemiological, and clinical evidence associated with circulating influenza viruses that may affect human (or animal) health.” It highlights the importance of global surveillance to detect change.”

The three cases in China were due to the H3N8 strain, not the H5N1 virus that recently killed millions of birds around the world, but the WHO has warned that bird flu viruses could evolve to cause a pandemic. He warned that it was important to monitor the situation given that .

“As bird flu viruses continue to be detected in poultry populations, we can expect more sporadic human cases in the future,” the WHO added.

“We need more information from both human and animal studies to better understand the current risks to public health.”

These cases are particularly concerning given that the world is just beginning to recover from the devastating Covid pandemic, which many scientists believe began in a wet market in Wuhan, China.

Deadly virus spreading across the planet

The woman’s death coincides with the largest bird flu outbreak in history caused by the deadly H5N1 strain, which has already spread to hundreds of mammals, killing hundreds of millions of birds worldwide before spreading rapidly across the planet. I’m here.

It has already been detected in species in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa, and in February an 11-year-old girl died from the disease in Cambodia, becoming the first death from bird flu in years.

Despite the tragedy who (WHO) stressed at the time that the risk to humans was low, but said it was “worried” about the current epidemic, although some scientists believed that transmission from mammals to humans was more likely. We have publicly expressed concern that it may begin to expand rapidly.

The virus has devastated poultry industries around the world, and was recently in the news in Japan after more than 17 million chickens culled for bird flu this season had no place to bury them. increase.

The outbreak has affected poultry supplies and sent egg prices skyrocketing in Japan and elsewhere around the world.