MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First human death due to avian flu reported

The Mexican case came after H5N1 cases appeared in recent weeks in dairy cows in the United States

A 59-year-old man in Mexico was reported Wednesday to be the first person ever to die of avian flu A(H5N2), the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on its website about the patient who passed away on April 24. The source of exposure to the virus usually circulating in poultry remains unknown and the victim had no history of contact with these animals.

According to family sources, the patient had already been bedridden due to a history of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and long-standing systemic arterial hypertension. On April 24 he sought medical attention and was admitted to the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias 'Ismael Cosío Villegas' (INER), where “he died that same day due to complications of his condition.”

All 17 people in contact with the patient have been placed under monitoring.

The Mexican case came after H5N1 cases appeared in recent weeks in dairy cows in the United States, where three human infections have been reported so far this year.

In Mexico, on April 5, the National Service for Agri-Food Health, Safety, and Quality (Senasica) declared the country a zone free of A(H5N2) avian influenza. It said the virus had been absent for more than 25 years, since the last corroborated case in commercial production dated June 5, 1995.

This was the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with A(H5N2) subtype of bird flu reported globally and the first H5 virus infection in a person reported in Mexico.

Last year, the virus spread among birds, cows, and pigs in North America as well as sea lions in South America.

Mexico's Health Ministry ruled out poultry consumption as a way of contagion.