The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the death of a person in Mexico due to an infection with avian influenza A H5N2. This is a case detected by a laboratory, and it is the first in humans of subtype A H5N2 of the avian flu reported in the world.
As reported by Reuters, the deceased is a 59-year-old man whose death occurred on April 24 after presenting symptoms such as fever, respiratory distress, diarrhea, nausea, and general malaise, and the WHO detailed that he had no history of exposure to poultry, corrals, or other animals.
In time to the onset of acute symptoms, the man was reported to have had multiple prior medical conditions and to have been bedridden for three weeks for other reasons. “A novel influenza subtype that infects humans” The WHO clarified that there is little risk to the general public when it said that a virus is an event that has the potential to have a high impact on public health and should be reported to them. The organization does, however, consider the current risk of this virus to be low for the general public.
In a statement, the WHO reported that the patient developed fever, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, nausea, and general malaise on April 17. On April 24, he sought medical attention, was hospitalized at the “Ismael Cosio Villegas” National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER), and died that same day due to complications of his condition.
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The WHO recalled that the patient lived on a poultry farm in the state of Michoacán, which borders the State of Mexico, where an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N2) was discovered in March.
For its part, the Mexican Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that there is no risk of contagion for the population after the detection of the first human case of low-pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N2) in the country.
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