New human case of avian influenza detected in China

China's National Health Commission announced the detection of the world's first human case of H10N3 avian influenza. The Commission said the patient's condition has improved to the point where he is eligible for discharge. Authorities carried out emergency follow-ups of all his close contacts and found "no abnormalities", although it is not known at this stage how the subject could have become infected.

The 41-year-old man, a resident of Zhenjiang city in Jiangsu province, began experiencing fever and other symptoms on 23 April. He was hospitalised five days later after his condition worsened. More than a month after the onset of symptoms, he was finally diagnosed with the H10N3 virus on 28 May.

In a statement, the Commission says that no human transmission of the virus has ever been detected before, that it is an "accidental" transmission and that the risk of a large-scale spread or epidemic is "very low". "There have been no reported human cases of H10N3 in the world, and the H10N3 virus among poultry is low pathogenic. This case is an occasional transmission between poultry species and humans, and the risk of large-scale spread is extremely low," officials said.

Many different strains of avian influenza are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those who work with poultry. So far all evidence indicates that this has been an isolated case. Also, there have not been a significant number of human infections with avian influenza since the H7N9 strain killed about 300 people during 2016-2017.

According to Filip Claes, regional laboratory coordinator at the Food and Agriculture Organisation's Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the H10N3 strain is "not a very common virus". Only 160 cases of the virus have been recorded in wild birds and waterfowl in Asia and parts of North America. According to Claes, so far no cases have been detected in chickens or other poultry for human consumption.

China has urged its citizens to avoid contact with birds, both dead and alive, to take care of their food hygiene and to seek medical attention at the first signs of symptoms (respiratory problems and fever).