Published on : 27/04/2022 – 17:54
This is the first time it has been detected in humans. A four-year-old child has tested positive for H3N8 avian flu in central China. The risk of human-to-human transmission remains low, authorities say.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde
The first symptoms appeared on April 5.
Fever, headaches, respiratory problems, the little boy from this peasant family in the city of Zhumadian, in the central province of Henan, was admitted to hospital five days later, following the worsening of his condition. health.
The samples taken proved positive for the H3N8 virus, but the child is now out of danger. Tests carried out on his entourage as well as meticulous medical observation revealed no abnormalities.
In their report, the health authorities explain that the parents of the child raise chickens in an area populated by wild ducks.
This is the first time that the H3N8 avian flu has infected a human being. Until then, the virus transmitted by birds had affected dogs, horses, seals.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, quoted by the newspaper GuangmingIt’s regarding a “ occasional inter-species transmission » et « the risk of large-scale transmission remains low ».
H5N1 and H7N9 strains were the main source of bird flu in humans in 1997 and once more in 2013.
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