China's National Health and Wellness Commission reported the first human case of the H3N8 strain of bird flu in the country. A 4-year-old boy from Henan Province exposed to chickens, crows, and ducks in his home started having fever and other bird flu symptoms on April 5.
The health commission said that the boy was admitted to a local medical facility after initial symptoms appeared and tested positive for the H3N8 bird flu virus on April 24. Health officials later tested the people around the boy and fortunately, no one else tested positive.
Mixed-Up Avian Virus Can Have Unpredictable Transmission and Virulence in Humans
Avian flu viruses originate in birds and do not easily spread to other animals. However, rare cases showed that strains have adapted to infect other animals, such as dogs and horses, and humans. Some examples of avian flu viruses that infected humans before were H5N1, H7N9, H5N6, and H5N8.
The strain H3N8 has infected a young boy from China and is the first human case. Genetic analyses showed that H3N8 has genes from viruses previously found in poultry and wild birds.
As reported by The Guardian, epidemiologist Marius Gilbert said that the mixed-up nature of the variant detected in Henan province can have an unpredictable capacity in transmission and virulence in humans. However, according to experts, even though H3N8 has already infected a human, it does not necessarily mean that it can easily spread among humans.
China previously announced the first human case of the H10N3 strain in June 2021. According to Live Science, the person was a 41-year-old man from Zhenjiang. He was hospitalized and discharged after being cured. Likewise, Russia reported the first human case of the strain H5N8 in February last year, and no human-to-human spread has been recorded after that.
However, since avian influenza still has the potential to trigger outbreaks in humans, health organizations around the world are closely monitoring new variants. As of now, there is no information regarding the health status of the boy who contracted the H3N8 strain of bird flu.
What You Need to Know About Bird Flu
Bird flu is caused by the avian influenza Type A viruses that naturally spread among wild aquatic birds and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bird flu viruses do not typically infect humans, although there are rare cases that have been recorded.
China is one of the 135 countries affected by the Type 1 influenza virus and the United States has over 33 million cases of bird flu dated so far this year. According to Associated Press, the recent bird flu is the highest in the US since 2015.
That is why the CDC advocates for prevention, such as avoiding direct contact with wild birds and only observing them from a distance. Wild birds could be infected with bird flu viruses even if they may not look sick. Also, avoid unprotected contact with domestic birds that look sick or have died, and do not touch the surfaces possibly contaminated by their saliva, mucous, or feces.
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