China recorded the first human infection with the strain H3N8 from bird fluthe country’s health authority said on Tuesday, but said the risk of it spreading between people was low.
A four-year-old boy from the central province of Henan was found to be infected with the variant after developing a fever and other symptoms on April 5.
No close contacts were infected with the virus, the National Health Commission it’s a statement. The boy had been in contact with chickens and crows raised in his home, he added.
The H3N8 variant it has previously been detected in other parts of the world in horses, dogs, birds and seals, but no human cases of H3N8 have been reported, the NHC said.
The commission said an initial assessment found the variant did not yet have the ability to infect humans effectively and the risk of a large-scale epidemic was low.
Many different strains of bird flu are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those who work with poultry.
Last year China reported the first human case of H10N3.
China has huge populations of wild and farmed birds of many species, creating an ideal environment for avian viruses to mix and mutate.
The growing surveillance of influenza avian infection in people also means that more infections are detected.