China Records World's First Human Death Due to Bird Flu Strain H3N8

Following the discovery of two additional cases, China recently reported the first human death worldwide brought on by the H3N8 bird flu strain.

World's First Human Death to Bird Flu

It has been questioned whether there is a risk of the virus spreading to humans after a Chinese woman became the first person to pass away from a type of bird flu hardly ever seen in people.

As the world is just beginning to recover from the devastating COVID pandemic, which scientists believe may have been brought on by a virus transferring from animals to humans, reports of the 56-year-old woman's death in China sparked some alarm amongst the public.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), a woman from Guangdong contracted the A(H3N8) bird flu virus in February before being admitted to the hospital on March 3 with severe pneumonia. She later passed away on March 16, 2023.

The Guangdong woman is believed to have contracted the virus after coming into close contact with poultry, presumably at a market, while the two previous cases-both in children and both occurring in China-were also linked to this exposure. Officials are keeping track of and keeping an eye out for symptoms in their close contacts.

Detected in Other Species

The H3N8 influenza virus typically affects birds, but it has also been known to infect other mammals, such as dogs, horses, and seals. According to a study published in the journal, mBio, 162 harbor seals died when an H3N8 2021 outbreak happened in New England.

Nevertheless, before the three most recent and only cases of H3N8, no human cases had been documented. According to Shayan Sharif, a University of Guelph professor of immunology in Canada, the virus is constantly evolving, with the most recent strain infecting people.

Sharif emphasized that there is no proof that this virus is spread from mammal to mammal. As a result, there is currently very little chance of sustained human-to-human transmission or transmission from animals to humans. It seems that infections in humans are occurring sporadically and that people who have previously been exposed to poultry are more likely to contract them.

Treana Mayer, a Colorado State University postdoctoral fellow in microbiology, said that the precise reasons why this subtype is infecting humans for the first time remain a subject for more research. The WHO also provided assurances that, based on the information currently available, it looks like this virus lacks the capacity for transmission from person to person.

Also Read: Minnesota Reports Year's First Case of Bird Flu, 114 Chickens Infected 

Spread of Bird Flu

Another strain of bird flu, known as H5N1, has been making its way across domestic and wild birds in the US and other countries. Although in very small numbers, this can also infect humans.

Mayer emphasized that the H3N8 and H5N1 bird flu strains have only resulted in a few isolated human cases, so it is not yet thought that there is a human outbreak. Therefore, even though H3N8 can't spread between people, it still shows how easily diseases can spread from animals to people, making humans more susceptible to another pandemic, Newsweek reports.

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