China detects the world’s first human case of H3N8 bird flu

Infected case avian flu The first human H3N8 in China was a 4-year-old boy from Henan province, central China. The patient was found to be infected with a dangerous strain of avian influenza after developing fever and other symptoms on April 5.

The National Health Commission of China (NHC) said that no other close contacts had been infected with this potentially deadly strain of bird flu.

According to the NHC, the patient infected with H3N8 had contact with chickens and crows raised at home.

The H3N8 variant has previously been detected in other parts of the world in horses, dogs, birds and seals, but no human cases of H3N8 flu have been reported, the NHC noted.

Initial assessment determined that this avian influenza variant is not yet capable of effective human-to-human transmission and that the risk of large-scale disease outbreaks is low, the commission said.

Various strains of avian influenza have emerged in China and some have sporadically infect humans, often those who work with poultry.

Last year, China reported The first human case of H10N3 infection.

China has huge populations of domestic and wild birds with many species, creating an ideal environment for avian viruses to mix and mutate.

Increased surveillance of human bird flu also means more infections, Reuters reported.

Several strains of avian influenza have been found in animals in China, but human outbreaks of avian influenza are rare.

The last human bird flu outbreak occurred in late 2016 to 2017, with the H7N9 virus.

H7N9 has infected 1,668 people and claimed the lives of 616 people since 2013, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.