China has the world’s first human case of H10N3 bird flu

Chinese health officials reported, on Tuesday, the first, that the world’s first case of the H10N3 bird flu virus had been detected in humans. In a note, the National Health Committee confirms that so far no human infection with this virus has occurred, that it is “accidental” transmission and that the risk of widespread spread is “very low”.

“No human case of H10N3 infection has been reported in the world (until then), and the virus among birds is low pathogenic. This case is an accidental transmission from birds to humans, and the risk of widespread spread is very low,” the statement said.

The patient is a 41-year-old man from eastern Jiangsu Province. He began having a fever and other symptoms on April 23 and was hospitalized five days later, after his condition worsened. The commission says the infected person’s condition has improved to the point of meeting exit requirements. The authorities say that they conducted emergency follow-up of all close contacts of the patient, among whom no “abnormalities” were found.

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H10N3 is a subtype of influenza A virus, also known as bird flu virus. Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the nurse biology department at Wuhan University, told the newspaper UTC The virus is usually fatal to birds. He said the H10N3 virus can spread via respiratory droplets – a process similar to that of Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Yang said it was possible that the man was infected by the droplets. He said that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

In addition, he emphasized that the virus poses a low risk to humans. The authority called on citizens to avoid daily contact with dead birds and not to approach live birds, as well as pay attention to food hygiene and consult a doctor as soon as symptoms such as fever or breathing problems appear.