China: The Country Records its First Ever Human Death from the H3N8 Bird Flu, says WHO
The World Health Organization reported that a Chinese woman has become the first person ever to die from the H3N8 bird flu, a flu that is found rarely in humans. The WHO has also said that this rare strain does not seem to spread between people. The victim was a 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong, who was also the third person to be infected with the rare strain of H3N8 , a subtype of avian influenza. All the known cases of the H3N8 flu have been in China, with the first two of them coming to the surface just last year. The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had reported the country’s third infection in the latter half of the last month but did not give any details about the woman’s death. Although, WHO in its latest report said that the patient was suffering from several underlying conditions and also had a history of long exposure to poultry. People with bird flu in China are commonly seen to have sporadic infections. It is bec...