How dangerous is H3N8 bird flu? China sees first human infection in 4-year-old
The patient 'developed fever and other symptoms on April 5, and was admitted to a local medical institution'
Micrograph of avian influenza, also known as bird flu
A four-year-old boy from central Henan province in China has become the
first human to be infected with the H3N8 strain of bird flu. The
country's health authority confirmed it on Tuesday, April 26, but noted
that further spread of the virus among humans is low. China's National
Health Commission (NHC) also said that people who came close to the boy
are safe and in good health.
A statement from NHC read: “The National Health Commission announced on April 26 that a human case of H3N8 avian influenza
was found in Henan Province. Before the onset of the disease, the
patient had raised chickens and black-bone chickens at home, and there
were wild ducks around the home. He developed fever
and other symptoms on April 5, and was admitted to a local medical
institution for treatment on the 10th due to aggravation of his
condition.”
The boy had reportedly lived close to chickens and black-bone chickens
It continued: “On the 24th, the Chinese Center for Disease Control
and Prevention conducted a test on the patient specimen sent from Henan
Province, and the result was positive for the H3N8 avian influenza virus.
Henan Province carried out medical observation and sampling tests on
the close contacts of the child, and no abnormality was found,” before
adding: “The National Health Commission has instructed Henan Province to
carry out prevention and control in accordance with relevant plans, and
organized experts to carry out risk assessments. Experts' preliminary
assessment believes that the H3N8 avian influenza virus is of avian
origin and does not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans.
This outbreak is an occasional bird-to-human cross-species transmission,
and the risk of a large-scale epidemic is low.”
The
government guidelines mentioned that people should not be near sick and
dead poultry, and “pay attention to dietary hygiene, and separate raw
and cooked food during food processing.” Also, if anyone fell sick and
experienced respiratory symptoms, they should immediately contact their
doctors and wear masks.
Ian Mackay, a virologist at the
University of Queensland, Australia commented on the rare case and
remarked, “These early infections should always be responded to
thoroughly and comprehensively with sensitive testing of contacts to
ensure no other spread occurred or is ongoing.” He also stated that
these kinds of human infection happen rarely but will continue to ensue
“while we live very close to virus hosts”.
This new case comes as
last year in June, China reported its first case of H10N3 bird flu
found in a human. At the time, NHC stated that a 41-year-old man from
the eastern province of Jiangsu was infected. He was admitted to a
hospital on April 28 and tested positive with H10N3 a month later.
The
World Health Organization (WHO) had told Reuters: “The source of the
patient’s exposure to the H10N3 virus is not known at this time, and no
other cases were found in emergency surveillance among the local
population. At this time, there is no indication of human-to-human
transmission. As long as avian influenza viruses circulate in poultry,
sporadic infection of avian influenza in humans is not surprising, which
is a vivid reminder that the threat of an influenza pandemic is
persistent.”
No comments:
Post a Comment