A Chinese woman has become the first person ever to pass away from the H3N8 strain of bird flu. The 56-year-old fell sick on February 22 and was later taken to hospital with severe pneumonia where she died on March 16.
She is the third recorded person ever to officially be diagnosed with H3N8, which is one of the most common strains in birds, but is very uncommon in humans, the Mirror reports. The World Health Organisation wrote in their latest assessment of the H3N8 infection that the woman from the Guangdong province had 'multiple underlying conditions'.
It added: "She had a history of exposure to live poultry before the onset of the disease, and a history of wild bird presence around her home. No close contacts of the case developed an infection or symptoms of illness at the time of reporting."
It was concluded that the victim picked up the illness from a wet market where she regularly visited. The assessment read: "Environmental samples were collected from the patient's residence and the wet market where the patient spent time before the onset of illness.
"The results of testing showed that the samples collected from the wet market were positive for influenza A(H3)."
The other two victims of the H3N8 strain were two young boys who became ill in China in April and May last year.
Their cases were not linked and they both survived. Despite the worrying development, the WHO maintains its previous recommendations for public health measures and surveillance.
The Government had said that in the UK, an order currently requiring all bird owners to keep their animals indoor to prevent the spread of avian influenza is to be lifted. Bird keepers have been subject to a national housing order since November 7 to help control an unprecedented number of bird flu cases.
More than 330 cases have been confirmed in the UK since October 2021. The Government said poultry and other captive birds can be kept outside again from April 18 unless they are in a specified protection zone.
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