China information world’s first human loss of life from H3N8 hen flu, WHO says
This {photograph} taken on December 7, 2021 exhibits an indication of the World Well being Organisation at their headquarters in Geneva.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Photos
A Chinese language lady has develop into the primary individual to die from a sort of hen flu that’s uncommon in people, the World Well being Organisation (WHO) mentioned, however the pressure doesn’t seem to unfold between folks.
The 56-year-old lady from the southern province of Guangdong was the third individual identified to have been contaminated with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza, the WHO mentioned in a press release late on Tuesday.
All the instances have been in China, with the primary two instances reported final 12 months.
The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Illness Management and Prevention reported the third an infection late final month however didn’t present particulars of the girl’s loss of life.
The affected person had a number of underlying situations, mentioned the WHO, and a historical past of publicity to dwell poultry.
Sporadic infections in folks with hen flu are frequent in China the place avian flu viruses continuously flow into in large poultry and wild hen populations.
Samples collected from a moist market visited by the girl earlier than she grew to become sick have been optimistic for influenza A(H3), mentioned the WHO, suggesting this may increasingly have been the supply of an infection.
Although uncommon in folks, H3N8 is frequent in birds through which it causes little to no signal of illness. It has additionally contaminated different mammals.
There have been no different instances discovered amongst shut contacts of the contaminated lady, the WHO mentioned.
“Based mostly on out there info, it seems that this virus doesn’t have the flexibility to unfold simply from individual to individual, and subsequently the danger of it spreading amongst people on the nationwide, regional, and worldwide ranges is taken into account to be low,” the WHO mentioned within the assertion.
Monitoring of all avian influenza viruses is taken into account necessary given their means to evolve and trigger a pandemic.
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