China records world's first human death from H3N8 bird flu -WHO
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[April 12, 2023]
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese woman has become the first person
to die from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) said, but the strain does not appear to spread
between people.
The 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the
third person known to have been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian
influenza, the WHO said in a statement late on Tuesday.
All of the cases have been in China, with the first two cases reported
last year.
The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
reported the third infection late last month but did not provide details
of the woman's death.
The patient had multiple underlying conditions, said the WHO, and a
history of exposure to live poultry.
Sporadic infections in people with bird flu are common in China where
avian flu viruses constantly circulate in huge poultry and wild bird
populations.
Samples collected from a wet market visited by the woman before she
became ill were positive for influenza A(H3), said the WHO, suggesting
this may have been the source of infection.
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Test tubes labelled "Bird Flu" and a
piece of paper in the colours of the Chinese national flag are seen
in this illustration, January 14, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Jul/22/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_072017.png) Though rare in people, H3N8 is
common in birds in which it causes little to no sign of disease. It
has also infected other mammals.
There were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected
woman, the WHO said.
"Based on available information, 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," the WHO
said in the statement.
Monitoring of all avian influenza viruses is considered important
given their ability to evolve and cause a pandemic.
(Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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