Two people have died as a result of bird flu infection with the H5N1 virus strain, the most virulent one, according the Ministry of Health. Both cases were confirmed by a national laboratory.
One of the victims was a 16-year-old boy from Anhui province. He developed pneumonia and was hospitalized on March 20th – he died seven days later. Authorities do not yet know whether he had been in direct contact with sick birds before becoming ill. His relatives and close contacts all seem to be well. We do not have details on the second victim.
There have been 24 confirmed cases of human infection in China, of which 15 have died.
Scientists fear the H5N1 bird flu virus strain will eventually mutate and become easily transmissible from human-to-human. It is still difficult for a person to catch bird flu from a bird – human-to-human infection is extremely rare.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today