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A 4-year-old boy from central Henan province has reportedly tested positive for bird flu, representing the first-known human case of the strain.
The news was reported by China’s National Health Commission, which said the child tested positive after being hospitalized with a fever and other symptoms in early April.
In a statement, the Commission said that the boy’s family raised chickens at their home and they lived in an area with wild ducks.
“Experts’ preliminary assessment is that the H3N8 avian influenza virus is of avian origin and does not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans,” they wrote in the statement, according to reports. “This is a case of incidental bird-to-human cross-species transmission and the risk of large-scale transmission is low.”
According to reports, the case was a “one-off cross-species transmission, and the risk of large-scale transmission is low.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), bird flu is “largely contracted through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, (and) these viruses have not acquired the ability of sustained transmission among humans.
“Avian, swine and other zoonotic influenza infections in humans may cause disease ranging from mild upper respiratory infection (fever and cough) to rapid progression to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock and even death.”
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