The World Health Organization (WHO) reported the first case of human infection with A(H5N2) bird flu in the world. The infection occurred in Mexico, the Geneva headquarters of WHO informed, but assessing the risk of further spread of this disease among people as low.

The Mexican authorities informed WHO about the human infection with A(H5N2) avian influenza, which was found in a resident of the State of Mexico.

This is the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported globally and the first avian H5 virus infection in a person reported in Mexico, the WHO report said.

Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, A(H5N2) viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico. According to the IHR (2005), a human infection caused by a novel influenza A virus subtype is an event that has the potential for high public health impact and must be notified to WHO. Based on available information, WHO assesses the current risk to the general population posed by this virus as low.

It is about a 59-year-old resident of Mexico City, who had no history of exposure to poultry or other animals. The case had multiple underlying medical conditions. The case’s relatives reported that the case had already been bedridden for three weeks, for other reasons, prior to the onset of acute symptoms.

On 17 April, the case developed fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and general malaise. On 24 April, the case sought medical attention, was hospitalized at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, and died the same day due to complications of his condition.

WHO noted that whenever avian influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, there is a risk for infection and small clusters of human cases due to exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments. Therefore, sporadic human cases are not unexpected.  Human cases of infection with other H5 subtypes including A(H5N1), A(H5N6) and A(H5N8) viruses have been reported previously.

Available epidemiological and virological evidence suggests that A(H5) viruses from previous events have not acquired the ability to sustain transmission between humans, thus the current likelihood of sustained human-to-human spread is low, the World Health Organization added.