WHO confirms Mexico’s first human fatality from H5N2 variant bird flu
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday a person in Mexico had died in the first confirmed human case globally of infection with the H5N2 variant of bird flu.
The patient, who died on April 24 after developing fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea and nausea, had “no history of exposure to poultry or other animals” and “multiple underlying medical conditions”, the WHO said.
Mexican health authorities reported the confirmed case of human infection with the virus to the UN health body on May 23, after a 59-year-old was taken to hospital in Mexico City.
The WHO said the case was the “first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported globally”.
The source of publicity to the virus become unknown, the WHO said, even though instances of H5N2 have been pronounced in roosters within the United States.
in step with the UN health frame, H5N2 cases affected roosters inside the nation of Michoacan in March, with other outbreaks identified in the nation of Mexico.
however, it stated setting up a link between the human case and the poultry infections was so far not possible, estimating the threat to people as “low”.
An extraordinary variant of hen flu, H5N1, has been spreading for weeks among dairy cow herds within the United States, with a small range of instances stated among people.
but none of the cases are human-to-human infections, with the disorder rather jumping from livestock to people, authorities have stated.