The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated and can be transmitted from human to human. An 11-year-old student in Cambodia has died from a new variant of the virus that has evolved and can infect human cells. The case, according to experts, represents a worrying sign. The field scientists who made the discovery said the situation “needs to be treated with the utmost care”. According to their findings there would be “some indications” that would demonstrate how the virus has already “crossed” a human being and picked up the new mutations before infecting the girl.
H5N1 avian flu, human cases
“The Cambodian authorities have informed us of 2 confirmed cases of H5N1 bird flu, both members of the same family. One of the cases is the 11-year-old girl “, who “unfortunately died” in recent days. She is the first confirmed victim. “We are in close contact with the country’s authorities to understand more about the epidemic. Field investigations are ongoing. The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the widespread spread of the virus in birds worldwide and growing reports of cases in mammals, including humans. This was underlined by Sylvie Briand, director of the Preparation and prevention of epidemics and pandemics of the World Health Organization (WHO), in a press meeting that took place on 24 February. “H5N1 influenza is a serious respiratory disease, with a range of observed symptoms from mild to fatal. The mortality rate among cases reported with H5N1 infection over the years is more than 50%,” Briand recalled, explaining that “WHO takes the risk of this virus seriously and urges greater vigilance on the part of all the countries”.
Bird flu, Cambodian girl killed by a new variant of the virus
The samples taken from the 11-year-old were analyzed: according to the researchers, she was not infected by the virus that has affected thousands of birds all over the world, but by the 2.3.2.1c subtype, identified for the first time in humans. Antibody development studies initiated. The 11-year-old girl who died of bird flu in Cambodia was struck by a new variant of the virus, different from the one that caused thousands of wild bird deaths globally. This was revealed by Erik Karlsson, the scientist who sequenced the samples taken from the girl. At first, experts feared that the young lei might have been infected with the world‘s most prevalent subtype that is spreading in some mammalian species and which, as of 2020, lei has infected a handful of people.