BEIJING Another new strain of bird flu has made the jump from birds to humans. But virologists believe that the deceased patient is likely to have been an isolated case
The November 30, a woman of 73 years originally from Jiangxi province in southern China has been hospitalized with symptoms of pneumonialike serious. she succumbed to respiratory failure, 6 December. A few days later, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) doctors had isolated the H10N8 virus from the patient's blood. Although H10 virus arose occasionally in people, this is the first human infection known H10N8, said Malik Peiris, a virologist at Hong Kong University.
influenza experts are not hitting the panic button. For starters, they are not convinced that H10N8 was the main cause of death of women. She was a cancer patient whose thymus has been removed. The thymus produces T cells that help fight infections. "Her immune system was already seriously compromised," said George Gao, deputy general manager of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) here. "There is still no evidence that [virus] is direct cause of death. " For this reason, Peiris said, "I do not think this necessarily means that we will see many more cases" H10N8 may eventually follow a similar pattern to other newly emerging strain, H6N1 has been detected in May.. Taiwan, a woman who recovered after antiviral therapy. Since then, no other H6N1 human infection have been reported.
However, public health officials are taking no chances with H10N8. China CDC advised Jiangxi authorities to temporarily close a live poultry market where it is believed the woman to have contracted H10N8. and scientists are now probing the genome of H10N8 for "any unusual characteristics, and how it is similar to H7N9 "says Peiris. H7N9 is considered a serious threat: This strain has infected 143 people and killed 45 since its release in southern China in March. Four of these cases were reported during the past month. "The more cases there are, the more chances there are for the virus to adapt to human transmission," Peiris said. "This is the main concern."
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