China has recorded the first human infection with the H3N8 strain of bird flu, the country's health authority said on Tuesday.
A four-year-old boy from central Henan province was found to have been infected with the variant after developing a fever and other symptoms on April 5.
No close contacts were infected with the virus, the National Health Commission said in a statement.
The child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home, it 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, said the NHC.
The commission said an initial assessment determined the variant did not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans, and the risk of a large-scale epidemic was low.
Many different strains of bird flu are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those working with poultry.
Last year China reported the first human case of H10N3.
China has huge populations of both farmed and wild birds of many species, creating an ideal environment for avian viruses to mix and mutate.
Growing surveillance of avian influenza in people also means more infections are being picked up.
Experts have warned more "worrying" cases of bird flu are to come after 30 dead seagulls were found on a picturesque beach.
Herring gulls were found dead on Longrock Beach, Penzance and were found to have had tested positive for the condition.
It is the first recorded case of bird flu in the Cornwall area and has been described as “worrying” by experts, reports CornwallLive.
CornwallLive told how a member of the public found 30 dead seagulls on Longrock Beach, Penzance whilst waking her dog.
She reported the matter to the Cornish Wildlife Trust who passed the matter on to Government department DEFRA.
It then confirmed five birds tested were all found to have avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust said the Longrock cases were the first confirmed case of bird flu ever to be recorded in the Trust’s marine strandings database of over 10,000 records.
It said: "On January 18 and 19, the Trust’s Marine Strandings Hotline was alerted to the mass stranding by several members of the public.
"Approximately 20 birds were discovered on Longrock Beach and a further 14 found on Marazion Beach.
"The matter was passed over from the trust to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) due to the rarity of the case.
"Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency have now confirmed that all five of the adult birds that were collected have tested positive for the disease. "
