According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a particular strain of avian flu has claimed its first human victim in China.
The third person to have contracted the avian influenza H3N8 strain was a woman from the southern province of Guangdong.
The 56-year-old became unwell on February 22, was admitted to the hospital on March 3 for acute pneumonia, and passed away on March 16—nearly two weeks later.
The public health agency said in a statement the other two cases were reported in China in 2022.
But there is nothing to suggest any of them were connected, and that this could cause a spillover.
The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported the third infection late last month but did not provide details of the woman’s death.
WHO confirmed she had multiple underlying conditions and a history of exposure to live poultry.
Samples collected from a wet market visited by the woman before she became ill were positive for influenza A(H3), suggesting this may have been the source of infection.
There were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected patient, and the strain does not appear to spread easily between people.
H3N8 was first detected in wild birds in the 1960s. Though rare in humans, it has since been found in other animals like horses.
‘Based on available information, it appears that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person,’ the statement from WHO added.
‘Therefore the risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low.’