China says it has identified the first case of H3N8 avian flu in humans, but health authorities say the risk of human-to-human transmission is low.
The H3N8 strain is known to infect horses, dogs and seals, but has not yet been identified in humans.
China’s health ministry said on Tuesday that a four-year-old boy, who lives in central Henan province, tested positive for the H3N8 strain after being hospitalized in early April with fever and other symptoms.
The patient’s family raises chickens and lives in an area inhabited by wild ducks.
The boy was directly infected by the birds, the health ministry said, adding that tests performed on people close to the patient did not reveal no abnormality.
Also according to the ministry, the child’s case was the result of a occasional inter-species transmission at low risk of large -scale transmission.
However, he called for not approaching dead or sick birds and consulting in case of fever or respiratory symptoms.
Cases of transmission of bird flu among humans are very rare.
H5N1 and H7N9 strains, detected in 1997 and 2013 respectively, are the leading cause of bird flu cases in humans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to an American study published in 2012, the H3N8 strain could cause deadly pneumonia in more than 160 seals off American shores last year.
Source: Radio-Canada
