According to a written statement from WHO, the Chinese National Health Commission shared the information that A (H3N8) virus was detected in one person on March 27.
While 3 people have been infected with A(H3N8) to date, all cases have been seen in China.
It was stated that the patient, who was reported to be infected with bird flu in China, is a 56-year-old woman living in Guangdong province.
The person caught the disease on February 22, was hospitalized on March 3 due to severe pneumonia and died on March 16.
While epidemiological research and close contact tracing were carried out on the newly reported case, no other cases were found among the infected individual’s contact.
It is thought that this virus does not spread easily from person to person, and therefore the risk of national, regional and international spread among people is low.
Stating that influenza viruses are constantly evolving by nature, WHO emphasizes the importance of global surveillance to detect virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with circulating influenza viruses that may affect human or animal health.
China’s National Health Commission announced in April 2022 that the first human infection of the A (H3N8) type of bird flu was detected.