Woman Dies from New Strain of Bird Flu

A woman died in China recently from an infection of the H10N8 bird flu virus. The virus, previously isolated in birds like chicken, has mutated into a new strain that could be potentially harmful to humans.

According to a recent scientific report published in The Lancet, the new strain contains genes from the bird flu virus identified as H9N2. This virus was found to have provided the internal genes to several strains of bird flu including two strains known to have the potential for fatal infections, H7N9 and H5N1.

H7N9 has been found to be particularly virulent, having infected at least 286 people and killing 70 percent in China since it was first discovered. The H5N1 strain, a more commonly seen case of bird flu, has killed 386 people since 2003.

Author of the report  Dr. Yuelong Shu, from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in his findings that the fact these three strains are essentially viral "cousins" raises some concerns. If the H10N8 strain continues to migrate towards human hosts, there will be an even greater danger from bird flu.

According to study co-author, Dr. Mingbin Liu, of the Nanchang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a second non-lethal case of H10N8 was already identified in the Jiangxi Province late last month, putting Chinese officials on the lookout for even more cases.

Still, while the virus is not to be underestimated, H10N8's first victim, an ailing 73-year-old woman, remains to be the only fatal case of two infections over several months. According to reports, while investigators found the woman had been at a live poultry market several days before her death, the virus does not appear to have originated from there. The source remains unknown.

Last month, nearly 20,000 chickens were banned from sale and quickly put down in China's continued effort to cull the spread of the H7N9 avian influenza virus and its cousins.