China has recorded the first human infection of the H3N8 variant of bird flu, the country’s health authority announced on Tuesday, adding that the risk of transmission to other people is low.
The infection was discovered in a four-year-old boy from central Henan province, who had developed fever and other symptoms on April 5.
No close contact has been infected with the virus, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised in her home, the statement added.
The H3N8 variant has previously been detected elsewhere in the world in horses, dogs, birds and seals, but no human cases of H3N8 have been reported, the commission said.
The commission said an initial assessment determined that the variant did not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans, and that the risk of a full-scale epidemic was low.
Many different variants of bird flu are present in China, and some of them sporadically infect people, usually the most susceptible work with birds. Last year, China reported the first case of H10N3 in humans.
China has huge populations of wild and farmed birds, creating an ideal environment for avian viruses to mix and mutate. Increased surveillance of avian influenza in people also means that more infections are being identified.
Source: CNN Brasil
