NewsWhat do we know about the first human case...

What do we know about the first human case of H10N3 bird flu?

Chinese health authorities announced Monday the detection of the world’s first case of H10N3 bird flu in humans.

In a statement, the National Health Commission assures that so far no human contagion of this virus has been detected, that it is an “accidental” transmission and that the risk of a large-scale spread is “very low.”

According to experts, who reiterate that it is an isolated case, the H10N3 virus does not have the ability to effectively infect humans.

This we know about avian flu

What was detected?

“The patient is a 41-year-old man from Jiangsu province,” the World Health Organization (WHO) told AFP.

The man developed signs of the H10N3 bird flu “on April 22 and was hospitalized in an intensive care unit on the 28th. He is currently recovering,” says the WHO.

According to the Chinese Health Ministry, doctors concluded that he had the disease a month after his hospitalization. The Commission points out that the status of the infected person has improved to the point of reaching the requirements to be discharged.

“At the moment, the source of this patient’s exposure to the H10N3 virus is unknown,” says the WHO.

What is bird flu?

It is a type of disease “caused by influenza viruses that are transmitted between birds very easily, but very rarely cause disease in humans,” explains Dr. Nicole Robb (University of Warwick), cited by the British agency Science Media Center (SMC).

“There is a very large variety of influenza viruses that circulate among birds, far more than among the main mammalian hosts of influenza, humans, pigs and horses,” adds another expert, Dr. John W. McCauley (Francis Crick Institute), also cited by the SMC.

Sometimes these diseases are transmitted to humans.

How many strains have infected humans?

Two strains of bird flu – H5N1 (between 2003 and 2011, after a first outbreak in 1997) and H7N9 (since 2013) – caused human infections in Asia through infected birds.

But human-to-human transmission is very rare.

A total of 1,668 people have been infected with the H7N9 virus, which has killed 616 since 2013, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

For its part, the H5N8 virus, which is derived from H5N1, was detected in February in Russia in several workers at a poultry factory, after having circulated in many European farms for months.

Dr. McCauley also cites sporadic cases of infections with the H9N2 and H10N8 viruses in the world in the last twenty years.

How are they transmitted to humans?

In general, it is from “very close contact” with infected animals, poultry or ducks, “a direct exposure when they are handled or when their meat is prepared,” responds McCauley.

“The closure of poultry markets stopped the H5N1 bird flu epidemic in Hong Kong in 1997,” he recalls, adding that “once cooked, infected meat poses very little threat.”

The WHO considers that as long as avian influenza viruses circulate among poultry, sporadic cases in humans “are not surprising.”

The next phase would be human-to-human transmission, but for this, “mutations are needed,” explains Vincent Enouf, deputy director of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infections Viruses, at the Pasteur Institute, to AFP.

Wild birds can be the starting point of such epidemics, and farm birds very often play a role of “amplifying populations”, Eric Fèvre told AFP, because the density of the bird farms “genetically very similar” , makes them very “receptive” to the virus.

Then the mutations can favor their passage to humans, as in the case of the H5N8 virus, present in many European farms for some months, and which was detected in Russia in seven workers at a poultry processing plant.

Have human bird flu epidemics occurred?

As such, no, but all the viruses responsible for the major pandemics had direct or indirect avian origin: the Spanish flu of 1918-1919, the “Asian” flu in 1957, the “Hong Kong” flu eleven years later, H1N1 flu in 2009.

What is the risk of the H10N3 virus?

“At the moment, there is no indication of a possible human-to-human transmission” of H10N3, the WHO reassures.

To this day, “this virus was not detected in other people, according to the Chinese authorities, which seems reassuring,” says Enouf, recalling that “the spread of avian viruses among humans is still very complicated.”

Furthermore, in birds, where it has been detected since 2002, “H10N3 is a low pathogenic virus,” meaning it causes few signs of the disease, according to the WHO.

The fact that it belongs to the H10 family is “good news”, says Dr. Nicole Robb, who points out that the H5 or H7 are “more worrisome.”

With information from AFP and EFE

WHO says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency

Although the cases of the disease are falling in some regions, the United Nations agency asks the countries to maintain vigilance and promote the vaccination of the vulnerable population.

More than 50,000 cases of monkeypox worldwide

The World Health Organization, however, sees signs of hope in the management of the outbreak in the European Union. While the United States investigates death related to this virus.

Tomato flu: The new disease detected in India

A new virus has appeared in India that causes tomato flu. These are the symptoms of the disease and the people it affects.

Monkeypox: Human transmitted the disease to a dog

The World Health Organization alerts after this first case was detected in France.

Poxy McPoxface or TRUMP-22, the WHO is preparing the new name for monkeypox

The World Health Organization promises not to put a "ridiculous" name on this disease, despite the grotesque suggestions that have been sent to it.

More