A person in Mexico has died from a type of bird flu that has not been confirmed in humans before: WHO
Health officials say a person in Mexico has died from a strain of bird flu called H5N2, which has never before been detected in humans.
The WHO said it was unclear how the man contracted the infection, although H5N2 infections in poultry have been reported in Mexico. File. | Photo Credit: Reuters
The World Health Organization said on June 5 that a person in Mexico died from a strain of bird flu called H5N2, which has never before been detected in humans.
The World Health Organization said it was unclear how the man became infected, although the H5N2 virus has been detected in poultry in Mexico.
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There are several types of bird flu. H5N2 is not the same strain that has infected many dairy cows in the US. That strain is called H5N1 and three farm workers have had mild infections.
Other types of bird flu have killed people worldwide in past years, including 18 people in China during the 2021 H5N6 outbreak, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s timeline of bird flu outbreaks.
Mexican health officials alerted the World Health Organization that a 59-year-old man who died in a Mexico City hospital had the virus, though he was not known to have had contact with poultry or other animals.
According to family members, the patient had been bedridden for unrelated reasons before developing a fever, shortness of breath and diarrhea on April 17, the WHO release said. Mexico’s public health department said in a statement that he had other illnesses, including chronic kidney failure, diabetes and hypertension.
The man was treated at a hospital on April 24 and died the same day.
Initial tests found an unknown type of flu, which was later confirmed by laboratory testing as H5N2.
The WHO said the risk to people in Mexico remained low, and no additional cases had been detected so far despite testing of people who had contact with the deceased at home and in hospital.
Human cases of bird flu ‘major concern’: WHO
There were three poultry outbreaks of H5N2 in areas around Mexico in March, but officials have not been able to find a connection. Mexican officials are also monitoring birds near a shallow lake on the outskirts of Mexico City.
Whenever bird flu spreads in poultry, there is a risk that people in close contact with the flock may become infected. Health officials are closely monitoring whether the virus is spreading easily from person to person, and experts are concerned that more and more mammalian species are becoming infected with the bird flu virus.
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