CHINA has confirmed the first known human case of the H3N8 strain of avian flu, but health authorities said there is low risk of widespread transmission among people.

H3N8 is known to have been circulating since 2002, after first emerging in North American waterfowl. It is known to infect horses, dogs and seals, but has not previously been detected in humans.

China’s National Health Commission yesterday said a 4-year-old boy living in Henan tested positive for the strain after being hospitalised earlier this month with a fever and other symptoms.

The boy’s family raise chickens at home and live in an area populated by wild ducks, it added.

The commission said he was infected directly by birds and the strain is not found to have “the ability to effectively infect humans”.

Tests of the boy’s close human contacts found “no abnormalities”, it added.

The NHC said the case is a “one-off cross-species transmission, and the risk of large-scale transmission is low”.

Nevertheless, it told the public to stay away from dead or sick birds and seek immediate treatment for fever or respiratory symptoms.

Avian influenza occurs mainly in wild birds and poultry. Cases of transmission between humans are extremely rare.

The H5N1 and H7N9 strains of bird flu, detected in 1997 and 2013, respectively, are responsible for most cases of human illness from avian influenza, according to the US Centres for Disease Control.

Human infections of zoonotic, or animal-borne, influenzas are “primarily acquired through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, but do not result in efficient transmission of these viruses between people”, according to the World Health Organisation.

In 2012, H3N8 was blamed for the deaths of more than 160 seals off the north-eastern coast of the United States, after it caused deadly pneumonia in the animals. – AFP, April 27, 2022.