First Case Of H10N3 Strain Of Bird Flu Reported In China; Know It Symptoms And Signs
Recently, China reported the first case of H10N3 strain of avian flu from the country’s eastern Jiangsu province. The patient was a 41-year-old man, and it has been verified as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of avian flu, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced on Tuesday. Also Read – Avian Influenza: Cooking poultry at or above 70 degrees may kill the bird flu virus
As per the statement, the man was hospitalized on April 28 after developing fever and other symptoms of the disease. He was diagnosed as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus on May 28, it said, but did not give details on how the man had been infected with the virus. He is currently in a stable condition and has mostly satisfied the criteria for release. Also Read – COVID-19 VS Bird Flu: Which one is more deadly in its course?
What Is H10N3 Avian Flu?
According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, avian influenza is an infection of birds with avian influenza Type A viruses. Also known as bird flu, it is a viral infection that can not only infect birds, but also humans and other animals. There are many strains of bird flu, and H10N3 is one of the many strains. Also Read – Bird flu outbreak in India: Can humans get avian influenza too?
According to the NHC, H10N3 is a low pathogenic, or less severe, the strain of the virus in poultry, and the likelihood of it spreading on a large scale is fairly low. The most common form of bird flu is deadly to birds and can easily affect humans and other animals that come in contact with a carrier.
The virus is not yet known to transmit through human-to-human contact. Nonetheless, some researchers are concerned that H5N1 might become a pandemic hazard to humans.
Is H10N3 Strain of Bird Flu Dangerous?
As per the statement by Filip Claes, regional laboratory coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases at the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, this particular strain of viral infection is not very common. Only around 160 isolates of the virus were recorded in the 40 years leading up to 2018, largely in wild ducks in Asia and some parts of North America and none had been discovered in hens thus far. He added that analyzing the virus’s genomic data will be required to identify if it resembles prior viruses or whether it is a novel combination of several viruses.
Many distinct strains of avian influenza are present in China, and some of them infect people on a random basis, generally individuals who interact with poultry. Since the H7N9 variant killed roughly 300 people in 2016-2017, there have been no substantial numbers of human illnesses with bird flu. As per the report by NHC, no other cases of human infection with H10N3 have been reported so far.
(with inputs from agencies)
Published : June 1, 2021 5:10 pm
