A person who travelled from outside Europe to the region of Lombardy in Italy is currently hospitalised with influenza A(H9N2), a subtype of avian flu, the Italian Ministry of Health confirmed on Wednesday, March 25.
It is the first human case of avian influenza H9N2 detected in Europe.
“All required checks have been promptly carried out, and the case's contacts have been identified, as part of routine prevention and surveillance activities,” the ministry said in a press release.
The patient had co-existing medical conditions and is currently in hospital isolation, receiving treatment.
Since 1998, and as of 27 February 2026, 195 human cases of A(H9N2) had been reported worldwide by ten countries in Asia and Africa, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The agency noted that no clusters of human cases of this variant, nor person-to-person transmission, have ever been reported.
Human infection is most commonly driven by direct contact with infected birds or contaminated environments.
“Sporadic human cases of avian influenza are not unexpected in areas where the virus is circulating in birds,” the ECDC added.
In their latest monitoring report, published this month, the ECDC and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) noted that between 29 November 2025 and 27 February 2026, ten cases of avian flu had been reported in humans, none of them fatal.
All cases were reported in Cambodia – one A(H5N1) case – and China, which recorded eight A(H9N2) cases, and one A(H10N3) case.
Based on information shared by Italian public health authorities and knowledge of the virus’s epidemiology, the ECDC assesses the current risk to the general population in the EU/EEA of influenza A(H9N2) related to this event as very low.
