The National Health Commission (NHC) in China confirmed yesterday (1 June) the first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, with a 41-year-old China man being infected.
The man was hospitalised on 28 April after he developed a fever and other symptoms.
He was later diagnosed on 28 May as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus.
Close contacts of the man were put under observation, and no other cases were found, although NHC didn’t provide details on how the man got infected with the virus.
He was eventually stable and discharged from the hospital.
Globally, no other cases of human infection with the H10N3 were previously reported.
What is H10N3?
The H10N3 is a less severe strain of the virus in poultry.
It is low pathogenic and according to NHC, the strain is not a very common virus and the risk of a large scale spreading is very low.
They occur commonly in wild birds and waterfowl in Asia, as well as some parts of Northern America.
Although none had been detected in chickens so far.
Genetic data analyses will be required to determine if the virus is a novel mix of different viruses or an older virus.
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