Mexico man dies of bird flu strain that hasn't been confirmed before in a human, WHO says
The Hindu
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 World Health Organization 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 World Health Organization said on June 5.
The WHO said it wasn’t clear how the man became infected, although H5N2 has been reported in poultry in Mexico.
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There are numerous types of bird flu. H5N2 is not the same strain that has infected multiple dairy cow herds in the U.S. That strain is called H5N1 and three farmworkers have gotten mild infections.
Other bird flu varieties have killed people across the world in previous years, including 18 people in China during an outbreak of H5N6 in 2021, according to a timeline of bird flu outbreaks from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mexican health officials alerted the WHO that a 59-year-old man who died in a Mexico City hospital had the virus despite no known exposure to poultry or other animals.
According to family members, the WHO release said, the patient had been bedridden for unrelated reasons before developing a fever, shortness of breath and diarrhea on April 17. Mexico's public health department said in a statement that he had underlying ailments, including chronic kidney failure, diabetes and high blood pressure.