A boy in China has contracted the H3N8 strain of bird flu, which appears to be the first known human case in the world, said the Chinese regime’s health authorities.
No human infection of this strain has been reported, the agency added.
The commission said that the chances of it spreading among people were low.
“This infection is an accidental cross-species transmission,” read the statement. “There is a low risk of large-scale transmission.”
Though rare, infections in humans can lead to adaptive mutations that potentially allow these viruses to more easily spread in mammals, said Erik Karlsson, deputy head of the virology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia.
Karlsson said the virus warranted expanded surveillance. He added its implication in the 1889 influenza pandemic, known as the Russian flu, was “a major concern for the risk of the virus.”
China’s commission said an initial assessment determined the variant is of avian origin. It noted there were chickens and crows raised in the boy’s home and that wild ducks were populated in the area.
His close contacts did not show any abnormalities during the medical surveillance period, it added.
The boy developed symptoms including a fever on April 5 and was diagnosed with H3N8 about two weeks later on April 24, according to the statement.
“We need to be concerned about all spillover events,” Karlsson said.