The World Health Organization (WHO) has said a man’s death in Mexico was caused by a strain of bird flu called H5N2 that has never before been found in a human. The WHO said Wednesday it wasn’t clear how the person became infected. “Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, A(H5N2) viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico ,” WHO said in a statement.
Scientists are on alert for changes in the virus that could signal that bird flu is adapting to spread more easily among humans. As avian flu hops to cows and at least two humans, migrant farm workers are at risk Read more But the UN agency said Wednesday said the current risk of the bird flu virus to the general population in Mexico is low. The 59-year-old man, who had been hospitalised in Mexico City, died on 24 April after developing a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, nausea and general discomfort, the WHO said.
Mexico’s health ministry added in a statement on Wednesday that there had so far been no evidence of person-to-person transmission of bird flu in the case of the man who died, and that he had several prior health conditions. All people who had contact with him have tested negative, it said. In March, Mexico’s government reported an outbreak of A(H5N2) in an isolated family unit in the country’s western Michoacan state, but said at the time it did not represent a risk to distant commercial farms, nor to human health.
After the April death, Mexican authoriti.
