The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that a Chinese woman has become the first person to pass away from a type of bird flu that is uncommon in humans, although the strain does not seem to transmit between people.
The WHO said in a statement late on Tuesday that the 56-year-old lady from the southern province of Guangdong was the third individual to have been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza.
The first two cases were recorded last year, and all of the cases have been in China.
Late this month, the Guangdong Provincial Institute for Disease Control and Prevention announced the third infection, although it made no mention of the woman’s passing.
The patient had a history of exposure to live poultry as well as other underlying illnesses, according to the WHO.
In China, where avian flu viruses are continuously spread across vast populations of domestic poultry and wild birds, sporadic infections in people with bird flu are quite prevalent.
The WHO said that samples taken from a wet market the woman visited before becoming unwell tested positive for influenza A(H3), indicating this may have been the location of infection.
H3N8 is widespread in birds, where it rarely manifests as an illness despite being rare in humans. Infected mammals include other mammals.
The WHO reported that none of the affected woman’s close contacts had any more instances.
The WHO stated in the statement that the risk of the virus spreading among humans at the national, regional, and worldwide levels is regarded as low because it does not appear to have the ability to transfer quickly from person to person.
The capacity of all avian influenza viruses to develop and spread a pandemic makes monitoring these viruses crucial.
