China reports first human case of H3N8 bird flu; risk of large-scale epidemic 'low'
Beijing (China), April 27: China has reported the first human case with the H3N8 strain of Bird Flu in the country's Henan province, according to the media reports on Tuesday.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) confirmed the case in a statement, however, said the risk of it spreading among people was low. A four-year-old boy was infected with the virus after developing several symptoms including fever.
According to NHC, no close contacts have been infected with the virus.
The child was in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home, it added. The boy's family raised chickens at home and lived in an area populated by wild ducks. The 4-year-old was infected directly by birds and the strain was not found to have "the ability to effectively infect humans", the commission remarked.
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The NHC described that the boy's case was a "one-off cross-species transmission, and the risk of large-scale transmission is low".
According to the health commission, the H3N8 variant has previously been detected elsewhere in the world in horses, dogs, birds and seals. It further added that no human cases of H3N8 have been reported.
According to an initial assessment, the variant does not yet have the potential to infect humans, and the risk of a large-scale outbreak is low.
However, it warned the public to stay away from dead or sick birds and seek immediate treatment for fever or respiratory symptoms.
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-PTC News
