Scientists are scrambling to find the cause for the sudden spike in human cases of avian influenza A (H5N6) in China to 21 this year, from only five in 2020.
Scientists are scrambling to find the cause for the sudden spike in human cases of avian influenza A (H5N6) in China to 21 this year, from only five in 2020, reports say.
The number is not as high as its peak in 2017, when the disease claimed the lives of hundreds, but the significant increase in cases by a virus with high mortality rates is cause for concern. In an interview with Reuters, Thijs Kuiken, professor of comparative pathology at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, said that the current variant might have evolved and become more infectious.
Most of the transmission cases involved exposure to infected poultry, and there are yet to be reports of human-to-human infection. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 48 lab-confirmed cases of influenza A (H5N6) as of October 8 in the Western Pacific region, including 25 deaths, since 2014. This year, the latest cases were seen in China, with one in August, two in September, and one in October.
H5N6 avian flu affects humans of any age and has led to deaths in over 50% of those who contracted it. The disease can manifest through flu-like symptoms, such as sore throat, cough, muscle pains, fever, and even severe respiratory illness.
In some cases, gastrointestinal symptoms and eye infections can occur. H5N6 joins the list of the more virulent versions of avian influenza (which includes H5N1, H10N8, and H7N9), leading to multiple organ failure, respiratory failure, and death.
The latest case, a 60-year-old woman from Hunan Province, reportedly tested positive for the virus in July but started developing symptoms on October 3. She was admitted to the hospital on October 13 and has been in critical condition since. However, this particular case is notable because the woman claimed she did not come in contact with live poultry.
“Due to the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses, WHO continues to stress the importance of global surveillance to detect virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with circulating influenza viruses that may affect human (or animal) health and timely virus and information sharing for risk assessment,” an unnamed spokesperson for the WHO was quoted as saying in an interview with BNO News.
China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs have yet to give an official statement on the rise in cases. The U.S. CDC does not have a dedicated page on the H5N6 avian flu as of this writing, but its website discusses the threat that H5, H7, and H9 viruses can bring, cautioning people to avoid being exposed to wild birds, poultry that has fallen ill or died, and surfaces that may have been contaminated with droppings from domestic or wild birds. Currently available treatments are antiviral drugs used to treat flu, which turn out to be 70% to 90% effective.
