The World Health Organisation announced Wednesday that a person in Mexico has died in the first verified human case 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”, claimed the World Health Organisation.
On May 23, Mexican health officials reported a verified case of human infection with the virus to the UN health body after a 59-year-old was transported to a hospital in Mexico City.
The WHO went on to say, “The case was the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported globally”.
The WHO stated that the source of viral exposure remained unknown, despite the fact that H5N2 cases had been identified in the country’s poultry.
According to the UN health agency, H5N2 illnesses afflicted poultry in the state of Michoacán in March, with further outbreaks reported throughout Mexico.
However, it stated that establishing a link between the human case and the poultry illnesses was now impossible and that the danger to people was low.
A distinct strain of bird flu, H5N1, has been spreading for weeks among dairy cow herds in the United States, with only a few cases identified in people.
However, officials have stated that none of the instances are human-to-human infections; rather, the disease has spread from cattle to humans.
