World’s first human death from H3N8 bird flu

12/04/2023

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World’s first human death from H3N8 bird flu

World Health Organisation reported that a very rare type of bird flu in humans had been detected for the first time in China since last year. A Chinese woman died from a type of bird flu called H3N8 but the strain has not seen to spread between people.

The first two cases of H3N8 bird flu were reported in China last year. The 56-year-old woman from the China’s southern province of Guangdong was the third person had been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza and first person to die from H3N8 bird flu.

WHO reported that the patient had multiple underlying conditions and a history of exposure to live poultry.

Spasmodic infections in people with bird flu are common in China where avian flu viruses constantly pass around in huge poultry and wild bird populations.

H3N8 bird flu:

H3N8 bird flu is believed to have been circulating with its first case in North American waterfowl since 2002.
It infects horses, dogs and seals.
H3N8 is common in birds but it causes no disease.
H3N8 bird flu infects other mammals also.
It is rare in humans and has no history before two years.

Investigation by WHO:

WHO investigated based on available information and reported that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person.
As it is not spreading easily from person to person the risk of it spreading among humans is believed to be low at the national, regional, and international levels.
Till now no other cases have been detected among close contacts of the infected woman.
With this kind of incidents, world has to be aware and monitoring of all avian influenza viruses is important to supervising their ability to evolve and cause a pandemic.