Boy in China becomes first recorded human case of H3N8 bird flu strain
- ‘Low risk’ of further infections from variant previously detected in other countries in horses, dogs, birds and seals
- The four-year-old had been in contact with home-raised chickens and crows and no close contacts were affected by the virus
A four-year-old boy in central China has become the first known human to be infected with the H3N8 strain of bird flu, but the country’s health authority said the risk of it spreading was low.
The boy from Henan province was found to have been infected after developing a fever and other symptoms on April 5, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.
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No close contacts were infected with the virus and the child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home, it said.
The H3N8 variant has previously been detected elsewhere in the world in horses, dogs, birds and seals.
Whole genome sequence analyses indicate that the H3N8 virus in this human case is a reassortant, with genes from viruses detected previously in poultry and wild birds, according to Nicola Lewis, an influenza expert at the Royal Veterinary College in Britain.
Erik Karlsson, deputy head of the virology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, said the virus warranted expanded surveillance.