What’s new: A 56-year-old Chinese woman has become the first person in the world to die from the H3N8 strain of bird flu, which commonly infects birds but is only rarely contracted by humans, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Th Guangdong province woman was the third person known to have been infected with this subtype of influenza virus, the WHO said in a statement Tuesday.
Guangdong’s health authorities reported the infection late last month. The woman, who developed flu-like symptoms in February, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia in early March and later died, the WHO said.
The U.N. health agency said the woman had multiple underlying conditions and “a history of exposure to live poultry,” which may have led to the infection.
An investigation determined that before falling ill, the woman spent time at a produce market where testing later confirmed the presence of influenza A, the statement said.
What’s more: All three of the H3N8 cases in humans were found in China, according to the WHO. The other two patients, both children, contracted the virus last year and recovered, according to Chinese researchers in studies published in the scientific journals Nature Communications and The Lancet Microbe.
According to the WHO, the H3N8 virus is commonly detected in birds and can also be prevalent in mammals such as dogs and horses. Transmission of avian influenza viruses from birds to humans is usually sporadic and can occur when humans come into contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.
