China Records World’s First Human Death From Bird Flu

China has informed the World Health Organization (WHO) that a woman who was infected by the H3N8 bird flu died in March.

The WHO stated that the case—the third known human case overall and the first to involve the strain’s death—occurred in China in April and May of last year.

WHO said that the most recent viral case was a 56-year-old Guangdong lady from the province’s southeast who passed away in March 16 after becoming unwell in February and being hospitalized with severe pneumonia.

“The patient had multiple underlying conditions. She had a history of exposure to live poultry before the onset of the disease, and a history of wild bird presence around her home,’’ the UN health body said, citing information from China’s National Health Commission.

It explained that none of her close friends or family members have gotten sick or contracted an infection.

The WHO suggested that she may have contracted the illness from a poultry market close to her home and samples collected from the market were positive for influenza A(H3) subtype.

The likely cause, according to the WHO, was either direct or indirect contact with contaminated chickens. It said in the two prior cases, one patient developed a critical illness and the older had mild symptoms.

The WHO added that the risk to humans is significantly low.

“The available epidemiological and virological information suggests that avian influenza A(H3N8) viruses do not have the capacity for sustained transmission among humans,” It said, adding that it is currently assessed that there is little chance of human-to-human spread.

According to the global health organization, in addition to practicing good hand hygiene, nations should raise public awareness of the significance of avoiding contact with high-risk environments like live animal markets or farms, live poultry, or surfaces that may be contaminated by bird or poultry faeces.