Lab reports have confirmed the first human death caused by a new bird flu virus – avian-origin H10N8 virus called JX346, it was announced today.
The patient was a woman from Nanchang City in China. She presented to hospital with fever and severe pneumonia on 30 November 2013, where she was given antibiotic and antiviral treatment. However she deteriorated rapidly, developed multiple organ failure, and died after nine days.
Tests on swab samples from her throat showed that the virus was JX346, a genetically new form of bird flu. All the genes of the virus were of avian origin, with six genes already linked to avian H9N2 viruses that are circulating in poultry in China.
This virus "is distinct from previously reported H10N8 viruses having evolved some genetic characteristics that may allow it to replicate efficiently in humans," say the scientists, led by Dr Yuelong Shu of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Reporting in the Lancet today (5 February), the team writes that it might have originated from genetic rearrangements of different avian influenza viruses, arising in wild birds and then infecting poultry.
"Importantly, the virus had a mutation in the PB2 gene that is believed to be associated with increased virulence and adaption in mammals, and could enable the virus to become more infectious to people", they add.
The patient in question had visited a live poultry market a few days before becoming ill, suggesting that the incubation time was about four days, which is similar to other bird flu viruses. But the precise source of infection was not identified.
The discovery of the new virus comes as China faces an outbreak from the last bird flu virus to emerge, H7N9.
Chen, H. et al. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of a fatal case of avian influenza A H10N8 virus infection: a descriptive study. The Lancet 5 February 2014 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60111-2 [abstract]
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