INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A person with prior health complications who had contracted bird flu died in Mexico in April and the source of exposure to the virus was
unknown, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.WHO said the current risk of bird flu virus to the general population is
low.
The 59-year-old resident of the State of Mexico had been hospitalized in Mexico City and died on April 24 after developing a
human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus globally and the first avian H5 virus reported in a person in Mexico, according to
the WHO.Scientists said the case is unrelated to the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in the United States that has so far infected three dairy
exposure to poultry or other animals but had multiple underlying medical conditions and had been bedridden for three weeks, for other
exposure to poultry or other animals but had multiple underlying medical conditions and had been bedridden for three weeks, for other
The government said the cases did not represent a risk to distant commercial farms, nor to human health.After the April death, Mexican
person tested negative for bird flu, the health ministry and the WHO said.Bird flu has infected mammals such as seals, raccoons, bears and
cattle, primarily due to contact with infected birds.Scientists are on alert for changes in the virus that could signal it is adapting to
spread more easily among humans.The United States has reported three cases of H5N1 human infection after exposure to cows since an outbreak
was detected in dairy cattle in March
Two had symptoms of conjunctivitis, while the third also had respiratory symptoms.Although the death in Mexico was not the same strain as
the one that is currently infecting cattle in the United States, they are both H5 avian viruses.Pekosz said that since 1997, H5 viruses have
that we should be very vigilant about monitoring for these infections, because every spillover is an opportunity for that virus to try to
May, noting there were no signs of transmission
It has however found more poultry cases of H7 bird flu on farms in Victoria state.Source: Reuters--Agencies
