CHILE: The first human case of bird flu has been discovered in Chile, the nation’s health ministry announced on Wednesday. According to a statement by the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention a case of H3N8 infection, also known as avian influenza, was reported in China’s southeastern coastal province of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong and Macau autonomous regions.
The infected individual 56 years old presented severe influenza symptoms along with systemic conditions. The lady as per the statement given by the center ” a history of exposure to live poultry before the onset of the disease and a history of wild bird activities around her home”. It added the infection it believed was sporadic and the lady was stable currently.
However, the health authorities called on local people to “avoid direct contact with live poultry and dead poultry in daily life, take personal protection, pay attention to food hygiene, separate raw and cooked meat, and cook meat thoroughly before eating.” Respiratory ailment individuals are asked to use a mask and seek medical treatment in case of uneasiness.
Close contact tracing, epidemiological investigations and investigation of epidemic-related places, and on-site elimination have been initiated.
The H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has been spreading widely, with an increase in the number of mammals being infected has increased fears over potential development of the variant that can facilitate human-human transmission.