A man in Mexico has died from a strain of bird flu that has never before been found in a human, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
The strain H5N2 has previously been reported in poultry in the South American country, although the WHO said it wasn’t clear how the 59-year-old from Mexico City became infected.
Little is known so far about H5N2 unlike other bird flu variants, otherwise known as avian influenza.
Bird flu is an infectious type of influenza that spreads among birds, but can in rare cases affect humans.
The WHO said the risk of H5N2 to Mexicans was low, and that no further human cases have been discovered so far, despite three poultry outbreaks of H5N2 being reported in nearby parts of Mexico during March.
Officials in the country are continuing to monitor birds near a shallow lake on the outskirts of Mexico City and also tested the family of the deceased, who passed on April 24 - the same day hospital care was sought.The global health agency noted the individual had died after developing symptoms including fever, a shortness of breath and diarrhea.
The symptoms showed after he became bedridden for unrelated reasons, according to family members. He also had no known exposure to poultry.
Mexico’s public health department said he had underlying ailments, including chronic kidney failure, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Initial tests since the case was flagged to WHO showed an unidentified type of flu that subsequent weeks of lab testing confirmed was H5N2.In recent years, the chance of people easily contracting bird flu has been construed unlikely. The few strains which have raised some of the most concern are H5N1, H7N9, H5N6 and H5N8.
Although the variants haven’t been known to infect easily, they have led to a number of deaths and to people being infected globally.
