A woman in China has become the first woman to die after testing positive for H3N8 bird flu. The 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the third person known to have been infected with that subtype of avian influenza, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The strain is “one of the most frequently found” subtypes of flu in birds, it had not been detected in humans before two cases emerged in April and May last year, both in China. The WHO says the risk of the virus spreading among humans is "considered to be low" and that no other cases among close contacts of the infected woman were found.
The woman, who had pre-existing medical conditions including cancer, had been admitted to hospital with severe pneumonia after falling ill in February. She died last month.
