NEW DELHI: A 63-year-old woman in China has reportedly died from an infection caused by a combination of H3N2 and H10N5 strains of bird flu. However,
Beijing authorities have stated that the risk of human-to-human transmission is low.
The woman, who already had existing health conditions, developed symptoms including cough, sore throat, fever, and others on November 30. Unfortunately, she passed away on December 16. The National Disease Control and Prevention Administration has reported that screenings of close contacts have shown no suspected cases or positive results.
Analysis of the virus’s whole genome sequence revealed that the H10N5 strain originated from birds and does not have the ability to effectively infect humans, according to the agency. “The outbreak is an episodic cross-species transmission from birds to humans,” the administration stated. They also emphasized that the risk of the virus infecting people remains low, and there have been no instances of human-to-human transmission.
China has huge populations of both farmed and wild birds of many species, creating an ideal environment for avian viruses to mix and mutate.
Avian influenza or bird flu refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. These viruses naturally spread among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with bird flu viruses have occurred, according to centres foe disease control and prevention.