A 56-year-old woman in Guangdong province, China has died from H3N8 bird flu, becoming the first known human fatality from the avian influenza strain, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This comes a little over two weeks after China reported its first case of H3N8 bird flu in 2023. Two non-fatal cases had emerged in China in April and May last year, which WHO confirmed. The deceased woman had underlying conditions and was exposed to live poultry before contracting the disease. No close contacts of the case developed an infection or symptoms of illness at the time of reporting, according to WHO. The agency stated that the virus is not likely to spread rapidly from one human to another, but they are closely monitoring it for any mutations.
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. Although H3N8 is usually detected in animals, especially wild birds, and is one of the two viruses which cause dog flu, it was never found in humans until 2022. Some researchers believe that it might have caused the 1889 pandemic known as the ‘Russian flu’ or ‘Asiatic flu.’ The first-ever case of H3N8 was detected in April last year when a four-year-old boy in central China became critically ill, and his pets, a dog and a cat, were also infected. The second case was reported from the Hunan province in May 2022 when a five-year-old developed mild symptoms but recovered quickly thereafter.
WHO considers the risk of H3N8 spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels to be low, despite the recent fatality. However, the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses necessitates the monitoring of the virus for any mutations.
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