China reports world’s first possible human case of H10N3 bird flu
- Health authorities say infection in Jiangsu man had an animal origin and risk of transmission is low
- Case is a reminder of the threat of such diseases, epidemiologist says
A 41-year-old man from eastern China could be the world’s first human infection of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, according to the country’s health agency, adding that the risk of transmission was low.
The National Health Commission said on Tuesday that the man from Jiangsu province had various symptoms including fever and was hospitalised at the end of April.
Genetic analysis confirmed the virus strain on Friday and emergency contact tracing did not find other cases or abnormalities, the commission said.
“Experts think the analysis of the virus’ complete genome showed the H10N3 strain had an animal origin and had not adapted to infecting humans effectively yet,” it said.
“This infection is an accidental animal-to-human cross-species transmission. The risk of a large-scale transmission is very low.”
The commission said there were no previously reported human H10N3 infections, making the Jiangsu man possibly the world’s first documented case of this strain.