The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that a Chinese woman has become the first person to die from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans, but the strain does not appear to spread between people.
In a statement released on late Tuesday, the WHO said the 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the third person known to have been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza.
According to a Reuters report, all the cases have been in China, with the first two cases reported last year.
Last month, the Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention revealed the third infection but did not provide details of the woman’s death.
The WHO noted that the patient had multiple underlying conditions and a history of exposure to live poultry.
Samples collected from a wet market visited by the woman before she became ill were positive for influenza A(H3), suggesting this may have been the source of infection.
Though rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds in which it causes little to no sign of disease. It has also infected other mammals.
Meanwhile, there were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected woman.
“Based on available information, it appears that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person, and therefore the risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low,” the WHO said.
