The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the first death linked to H5N2 avian influenza on June 5, 2024.
- The first death linked to H5N2 bird flu has been confirmed by the WHO.
- The person, who had several health problems, lived in Mexico.
- The origin of the contamination remains unknown to this day.
This first human case died on May 24 in Mexico from H5N2 avian flu, according to Mexican health authorities. This is a different strain of the disease affecting birds than the one currently raging in the United States.
H5N2 flu: fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and general malaise
“This is the first laboratory-confirmed human case of influenza A (H5N2) virus infection in the world and the first reported avian H5 virus infection in a person in Mexico.”explains the World Health Organization (WHO) in its epidemiological bulletin.
Although experts have not specified whether it was a man or a woman, it is known that the patient was 59 years old and lived in the State of Mexico. The person, who had several health problems, had started to have on May 17 “fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and general malaise”. Hospitalized at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases “Ismael Cosio Villegas” on May 24, he died the same day.
The epidemiological study identified 17 contact cases at the hospital where the patient died and 12 others where he resided. None of them have tested positive for avian flu during the tests carried out so far.
The origin of the contamination remains unknown
“Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, H5N2-like viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico.”recalls the WHO in its report. Indeed, an outbreak of avian influenza A (H5N2) was detected in a poultry farm in the state of Michoacán, which borders that of Mexico City, in March 2024.
Other cases of H5N2 flu were identified in poultry in Texcoco last March and in the municipality of Temascalapa in April, two cities located in the State of Mexico. “So far it has not been possible to establish whether this human case is linked to the recent poultry outbreaks.”the organization said. However, it clarified that based on the information available, it “assesses the current risk to the general population posed by this virus as low.”
