Health officials in China reported the first known human case of H10N3, a variant of the bird flu virus. The government said that human-to-human transmission of the virus is low.
The bird flu virus has long been considered a threat to epidemics and pandemics because it can be passed to different species, sometimes including humans, even though they are native to water birds.
However, it could create a highly contagious and virulent strain of flu infection when the virus picks up the right assortment of genes by the time it infects humans.
First Human Case of H10N3 Bird Flu Virus
A 41-year-old man from Jiangsu province, northwest of Shanghai, eastern China becomes the first human case of the H10N3 bird flu virus, the Associated Press reported.
China's National Health Commission said that the man was hospitalized on May 28 and is now in stable condition. They added that there is no human case has been reported elsewhere.
Despite the rising cases of COVID-19 infection, the Chinese government assures that the risk of a large-scale spread is low. Their news comes amid the heightened awareness of possible diseases that may emerge as COVID-19 continues to take lives worldwide.
"This infection is an accidental cross-species transmission," the commission said, according to AP. "The risk of large-scale transmission is low."
Since the bird flu virus has been studied for decades, there are already global surveillance systems that watch for human cases of bird flu, unlike the SARS-CoV-2.
In the 1990s, Hong Kong reported human cases of the H5N1 bird flu virus originating from its crowded live poultry markets. Meanwhile, China has also recorded over 1,500 human cases of the H7N9 bird flu virus between 2013 and 2017through close contact with infected chickens.
Health authorities said that human cases of bird flu virus are not surprising, so it must be monitored closely for signs of human-to-human transmission.
Further genetic testing of the H10N3 virus will tell scientists how this may have changed over time to infect humans, Gizmodo reported. As of now, it does not seem to be an immediate public health concern.
Symptoms of H10N3
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), H10N3 is a type of bird flu virus common to wild aquatic birds and can infect poultry and other bird and animal species. Typically, it does not infect humans, but there have been some cases being reported.
The virus could be transferred via the saliva, mucus, and poop of infected birds. Humans can get infected when enough viruses could get in their eyes, nose, or mouth.
Health website Prevention reported that symptoms of H10N3 infection could come as the regular flu but could also include symptoms like pink eye, fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, seizures, pneumonia, difficulty breathing, and altered mental state.
Treatment for H10N3
Infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that bird flu is treated the same way as ordinary flu. An antiviral medication, such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu), peramivir, or zanamivir, will suffice.
So when the bird flu virus starts spreading among humans, infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo/SUNY John Sellick, D.O. said that scientists would be able to make a vaccine quickly by modifying an existing flu vaccine. Although, he cautions that nothing is absolute.
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