China downplays first human infection with H3N8 bird flu strain

By Team Newsable | First Published Apr 27, 2022, 11:03 AM IST

The strain was detected in a four-year-old boy in China's Henan Province on Tuesday. Authorities said that the boy was in close contact with chicken and wild ducks raised at his residence.

China has reported the first human infection with the H3N8 strain of bird flu. However, the country's health authority downplayed the case stating that the risk of the virus spreading among people was low.

The strain was detected in a four-year-old boy in China's Henan Province on Tuesday. Authorities said that the boy was in close contact with chicken and wild ducks raised at his residence.

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The National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, in a statement, said that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a test on April 24 on the boy's specimen. The results came positive for the H3N8 avian influenza virus. The boy is currently self-isolating.

Henan Province officials have been told to conduct prevention and control through relevant plans, and carry out risk assessments. This even as the official government statement noted that while the H3N8 avian influenza virus was found to be of avian origin, it did not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans.

No human cases of H3N8 have been reported before April 26, 2022. However, the virus strain has been detected among dogs, horses and birds.

As a precautionary measure, the National Health Commission has urged people to avoid contact with sick poultry and maintain dietary hygiene.

Media reports in October had raised concerns over a surge in the number of people infected with bird flu in China in 2021. Experts had then theorised that a previously circulating strain seemed to have changed and become more contagious to people.

China notified the World Health Organization about 21 cases of human infection with the H5N6 subtype avian influenza in 2021, up from five in 2020. While those numbers were much lower than the hundreds infected with the H7N9 strain in 2017, the infections were severe, leaving many critically ill and at least six dead.

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