The first fatal human case of a subtype of bird flu has been confirmed in Mexico, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday.
On May 23, Mexican health authorities reported the death to the WHO, marking the first human death from the avian influenza A(H5N2) virus, according to a WHO press release.
A 59-year-old Mexican resident had developed fever, difficulty breathing, nausea, diarrhea and malaise on April 17, authorities said. The unidentified individual was hospitalized in Mexico City on April 24 and died that same day. Notably, the person had underlying medical conditions and had been bedridden for three weeks with other ailments before new symptoms appeared, family members told health officials.
The source of lethal exposure is unknown, but the virus had previously been detected in poultry in Mexico.. According to the WHO, the current risk for the general population is low based on a recent assessment.
“The available epidemiological and virological evidence suggests that A(H5) viruses from previous events have not acquired the capacity to sustain human-to-human transmission, so the current probability of sustained human-to-human spread is low,” the WHO said. .
No other people infected with this strain of bird flu were found during the WHO investigation. Twenty-nine people who came into contact with the infected person, either at the hospital or in the person's neighborhood, tested negative for flu and COVID-19.
The bird flu subtype was initially detected in March at a backyard poultry farm in Michoacán, the border state where the infected person lived, according to authorities.
Health authorities continue to monitor people who had contact with the infected person, monitor flu outbreaks in neighboring municipalities and urge environmental and animal health officials to be on the lookout for infections in poultry and wild birds near where the patient lived.
According to the WHO, people have contracted bird flu through direct contact with infected birds or “contaminated environments.” The infections can cause upper respiratory tract infections that can be fatal, as well as conjunctivitis, gastrointestinal symptoms, encephalitis and encephalopathy, the WHO says.
At this time, there are no approved vaccines for humans to protect against bird flu, although some candidates are being developed.
