China Detects First Human Infection With H3N8 Strain Of Bird Flu

BEIJING: On Tuesday 26 April, the health authority in China said that the country has detected its first human case of H3N8 bird flu.

A four-year-old boy was found infected with the H4N8 strain of bird flu after he was diagnosed with fever. However, there is not much to panic about as according to the experts, the risk of this infection spreading among the masses is low.

On 5 April a minor boy from Central Henan Province of China developed the symptoms of the infection and was later found infected with the variant.

The National Health Commission released a statement in this regard and informed that no close contacts were found infected with the virus.

The statement also reads that the boy was in close contact with birds like chickens and crows that were kept at his home and raised.

The commission further said that earlier the variant was detected in different parts of the world in birds, horses, seals and dogs but there was no case of humans getting infected with H3N8.

As per the initial assessment determined, as of now the virus does not have the ability to effectively infect humans and the risk of a large-scale epidemic is low, said NHC.

It may be mentioned that H3N8 bird flu is a subtype of the influenza A virus that is deadly to poultry and wild birds.

In China, there are many different strains of bird flu among which some may episodically infect humans mainly those who work with poultry.

Notably, China reported the human infection of H10N3 bird flu in the previous year when the variant was detected in a 41-year-old man from the eastern province.

It may be mentioned that the country has massive populations of farmed and wild birds from different species which creates an ideal environment for the avian viruses to spread effectively.

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