First H3N8 bird flu death reported in China, says WHO

A little over a fortnight after China reported its first case of H3N8 bird flu in 2023, a 56-year-old woman has died in the country's Guangdong province, becoming the first known human fatality from the avian influenza strain, according to World Health Organization (WHO).

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WHO confirmed the death after two non-fatal cases had emerged in China in April and May last year. The deceased woman had underlying conditions and was in and around poultry when she contracted the disease.

“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 agency said in a statement.

“No close contacts of the case developed an infection or symptoms of illness at the time of reporting,” it added.

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The Geneva-based health body said the virus could not spread rapidly from one human to another but it was closely monitoring the virusfor any mutations.

"The risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low,” said WHO.

“However, due to the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses, WHO stresses the importance of global surveillance to detect virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with circulating influenza viruses which may affect human (or animal) health.”

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The first ever case of H3N8 was detected last year in April when a four-year-old boy in central China became critically ill. His pets, adog 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.

What is H3N8 bird flu?

According to WHO, there is limited information on the avian influenza A(H3N8) virus when compared to other avian influenza A(H3) viruses circulating in animals. However, H3N8is usually detected in animals, especially wild birds. It is not uncommon to find the virus in horses and is one of the two viruses which cause dog flu.

While it was never found in humans until 2022, some researchers believe that it might have caused the 1889 pandemic, which was known as the "Russian flu," or "Asiatic flu".

(With inputs from agencies)

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