China confirmed the first known human case of Avian flu H3N8but officials said the risk of persontoperson transmission was low.
The H3N8 strain has been circulating since 2002 after being detected in American waterfowl. It has already infected horses, dogs and seals, but there have been no records of the human variant.
China’s National Health Commission (CNS) reported that a 4yearold boy from central Henan province was diagnosed with the strain after being hospitalized with a fever and other symptoms.
The patient’s family raises chickens at home and lives in an area with wild ducks, the CNS said in a statement.
The child was infected directly from the birds, and there is no finding that the strain has the ability to infect humans, the commission said.
Tests on people who had been in contact with the child found no “anomalies,” authorities added.
The CNS said the boy’s case was a “unique transmission between species and the risk of largescale transmission is low”.
However, the commission advised citizens to stay away from dead or sick birds and to seek immediate treatment if they have a fever or respiratory symptoms.
Avian influenza mainly affects wild and domestic birds, but cases of humantohuman transmission are extremely rare.
Strains of avian influenza H5N1 and H7N9, detected in 1979 and 2013 respectively, were responsible for the majority of human cases of avian influenza, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
In 2012, the H3N8 strain was found to be responsible for the deaths of more than 160 seals off the northeast coast of the United States after causing pneumonia in the animals.