The World Health Organization said on Wednesday First death in history New strain of bird flu emerges in Mexico.
This is the world’s first laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with the H5N2 strain of avian influenza and the first reported case in Mexico.
This strain is different from the avian flu strain currently circulating among US livestock and that has infected three US dairy workers.
The patient, who lives in Mexico, is 59 years old and has no history of contact with poultry or other animals, according to the WHO.
On April 17, the patients developed symptoms including fever, nausea, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and general fatigue. They were admitted to the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City on April 24 and died the same day.
The World Health Organization (WHO) at its headquarters in Geneva, December 7, 2021.
Fabrice Cofrini/AFP via Getty Images, File
According to the WHO, the patient’s relatives said he had underlying health conditions and had been bedridden for three weeks for other reasons before contracting bird flu. On Wednesday night, Mexico’s Ministry of Health said the patient had a “history of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes.” [and] Long-term systemic arterial hypertension”
Tests revealed that the patient was infected with the H5N2 avian influenza subtype, which has not previously been seen in humans.
According to the WHO, investigations by health authorities have not documented any further cases. Of the patient’s 17 hospital contacts, one reported a runny nose in late April. Samples taken from the contacts tested negative for influenza and COVID-19.
Twelve new contacts of the patient (seven symptomatic and five asymptomatic) were identified in the vicinity of the patient’s residence. Nasal, throat and blood samples were taken from the contacts. Nasal and throat samples tested negative for COVID-19, and blood sample results are currently under investigation.
“All samples taken from identified contacts were negative for the H5N2 virus,” Mexico’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The WHO said human infection with avian influenza “has the potential to have major public health implications”, but that the current risk to the general public was low.
Mexico’s Ministry of Health also echoed the WHO’s statement.
“The Ministry of Health announced that the first human cases of low pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N2) have been detected in Mexico, but that there is no risk of infection to the public as the source of infection has not been identified,” the statement said.
The H5N1 virus outbreak has been found to have sickened millions of birds and older dairy cows in the United States. So far, one farm worker in Texas and two in Michigan have become ill in the United States.
All three patients had mild symptoms and have recovered or are recovering, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission and the risk to the general public is low.
“Both H5N2 and H5N1 are in the same influenza A virus family, and although H5N1 has been known to infect humans for years, this is the first reported case of H5N2 in humans,” said Dr. John Brownstein, epidemiologist and director of the Chief Innovation Office at Boston Children’s Hospital and ABC News contributor. “The good news is that neither H5N2 nor H5N1 have been confirmed to be transmitted from person to person to date. But this first case is a wake-up call – a reminder that influenza viruses can evolve and continued surveillance of these viruses in both animals and humans is important.”
