(Bloomberg) — A man died in Mexico after contracting a strain of bird flu that had not been confirmed in humans before, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
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The virus was detected in a 59-year-old patient who had been hospitalized in Mexico City. The man died a week later after developing a fever, shortness of breath and diarrhea. It is the first laboratory-confirmed case of a person contracting a form of bird flu known as H5N2, the WHO said in a statement, raising questions about a strain that has largely been under the radar. The current outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows in the US is being driven by a different strain – H5N1.
The patient, who lived in central Mexico, had no history of exposure to birds or other animals. The Mexican government does not know where he was exposed to the virus, although the strain of bird flu has been reported in poultry in the Mexican state where the person lived.
The current risk that the H5N2 virus poses to the general public is low, according to the WHO, which said that no further cases have been reported following an investigation.
The H5N2-infected man had several underlying health problems, including chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and long-standing hypertension, according to Mexico’s Health Ministry on Wednesday. He had been bedridden for three weeks before the onset of acute symptoms in mid-April, the WHO added, citing the patient’s family. Although hospitalized on April 24, the man died the same day.
Mexican authorities reported the fatal case to the WHO on May 23, after confirming the presence of the virus in a sample from the deceased man.
While the man in Central Mexico marks the first laboratory-confirmed case of H5N2 in humans, researchers have identified people with antibodies that could signal previous infections.
Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, said H5N2 poses a low risk to public health because it has not demonstrated the ability to transmit between humans. To that end, it is concerning that the patient is not known to have been exposed to animals that are the most likely source of the disease, she added.
Wallace said more vigilance is needed to fill information gaps.
“It’s crazy that we don’t know where this is coming from,” she said.
The Mexican government began monitoring wild birds for H5N2 in the wetlands of Tlahuac, Mexico City, as well as on farms, backyards and other areas near where the man lived. So far, no infected birds have been identified, the Ministry of Health said in Wednesday’s statement.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the US, the H5N1 outbreak in cattle continues to expand its geographic reach. On Wednesday, Iowa announced it had identified infected cows, bringing to 10 the total number of states that have detected bird flu in livestock. So far this year, three U.S.-based farm workers have tested positive for bird flu – one in Texas and two in Michigan. They had symptoms of eye irritation and one of them had a cough. There have been no fatal human cases associated with the H5N1 outbreak in the US.
–With assistance from Madison Muller and Maya Averbuch.
(Updates throughout.)
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