Two recent severe H5N1 avian influenza infections reported in China and Vietnam are linked to a strain that previously caused four other human infections in Europe and the United States, according to a new World Health Organization report.
In both of the two new cases, the victims were exposed to infected poultry, either by consuming meat or having had contact with live animals. In the Chinese case, a woman from Guangxi province died from her infection.
Human infections now tied to this strain total six. Others were mild cases in the U.K., Spain and U.S., involving extensive contact with poultry.
WHO said, nonetheless, that the risk to humans remains low, and no sustained human-to-human transmission has been reported. Meanwhile, avian influenza continues to spread throughout multiple regions in the world, including the U.S., with the latest update involving an outbreak among 32,000 game birds at a farm in California.
