The World Health Organization has confirmed the death of a person in Mexico in the first known case of human infection with H5N2 avian influenza, a variant different from that detected in the United States. “This is the first laboratory-confirmed human case of influenza A (H5N2) virus infection reported in the world, and the first avian H5 virus infection reported in a person in Mexico,” the UN health agency said. in a statement on its website, in which it estimates that the current risk that this virus poses to the population is “weak”.
The Mexican authorities had informed the WHO on May 23 of a confirmed case of H5N2 avian influenza infection in a 59-year-old person hospitalized in the capital. The patient had “multiple underlying conditions” and developed fever, respiratory problems, diarrhea and nausea on April 17, before dying on April 24, the WHO said.
In another statement, the Mexican government indicated that he was “a 59-year-old man, with a history of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and long-standing systemic arterial hypertension, resident in the State of Mexico.” The UN agency specified that the origin of the infection is “currently unknown” and underlined that the victim “had no history of exposure to birds or other animals”. The organization recalls that in March an epidemiological outbreak of H5N2 avian influenza was identified in a poultry farm in the state of Michoacan, on the border with the state of Mexico. Other cases in poultry were also identified in March in Texcoco and in April in Temascalapa, both municipalities in the State of Mexico. “It has so far not been possible to establish” whether the detected human infection is related to these cases in poultry, the WHO said. Based on available information, the organization estimates that the current risk that this virus poses to the population is “weak”. Along the same lines, the Mexican government’s Ministry of Health states that “there is no risk of contagion for the population” and assures that “all samples from identified contacts (of the patient) tested negative”. He also noted that authorities are checking farms near the victim’s home and have set up a permanent monitoring system to detect other cases in wildlife in the area.
A worrying situation which, according to experts, must lead to increased attention in our country too. “The fact that this gentleman was not a breeder and had not had contact with infected animals – said the infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti – must raise the level of attention, especially diagnostic ones, on respiratory forms”.
