The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that a person with prior health conditions who contracted the H5N2 variant of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, died in April.
The individual, a 59-year-old resident of Mexico, first developed a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea, and a general feeling of discomfort on April 17, the public health agency said on June 5.
The man was subsequently hospitalized at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City on April 24 and died later that day.
Testing conducted on the day he was hospitalized indicated the individual had a “non-subtypeable influenza A virus” and further testing led to a positive sample for influenza A H5N2, the U.N. agency said.
The individual had no history of exposure to poultry or other animals at the time of his hospitalization, the WHO noted.
However, the man had prior health complications, including multiple underlying medical conditions, and relatives told hospital staff that he had been bedridden for three weeks before his admission for “other reasons.”
Mexico’s health ministry said in a statement that the person had chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, and systemic hypertension.
What Is Avian Influenza?
Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects birds. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease has also been found in other animals, such as pigs and dogs in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, as well as domestic cats in Germany.It spreads easily among birds through nasal and eye secretions, as well as through manure, and it can prove deadly in domestic poultry.
While it’s unclear how the Mexico resident became infected, multiple cases of avian influenza have been reported in the country in recent months, including one outbreak detected in a backyard poultry farm in the state of Michoacán in March.
Another outbreak was identified in March in poultry in Texcoco, in the State of Mexico, and another in April in the municipality of Temascalapa in the same state, the health body said.
“Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, A(H5N2) viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico,” the WHO said on June 5.
The latest discovery marks the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported globally and the first avian H5 virus infection in a person reported in Mexico, according to the U.N. body.
No further cases of the virus were reported during an epidemiological investigation into the latest case. Seventeen people who were at the hospital where the man died were monitored, with health officials only reporting a runny nose in one of them on April 28 and 29.
Bird Flu Outbreak Reported Among US Farmers
None of those individuals tested positive for influenza or SARS-CoV 2, the health agency noted.Additionally, 12 other people were identified as having been “near” the man’s home before his hospitalization and death, according to the WHO.
Seven of those people were symptomatic and five were asymptomatic; all of those individuals subsequently tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, and influenza B.
Despite the man’s death, the U.N. agency said on June 5 that, based on available information, the current risk to the general population posed by this virus is low.
Along with the United States and Mexico, Australia has also reported its first human case of A(H5N1) infection this year, with health officials stating in May that there were no signs of transmission. Health officials in the country have, however, found additional poultry cases of H7 bird flu on farms in the state of Victoria.
