Chinese Woman Dies from Bird Flu

A Chinese woman passed away from a bird flu strain new to humans, CBC reports.

Chinese authorities confirmed that a 73-year old Chinese woman died after being infected with a bird flu strain that had sickened a human for the first time, a development that the World Health Organization called "worrisome". China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the woman from the city of Nanchang had been infected with a strain of H10N8 bird flu virus that no other human being has been infected with.

This recent case is the second new bird flu strain to emerge in humans this year in China. The patient previously suffered from pneumonia before dying at a local hospital in Nanchang. She also suffered from high blood pressure, heart disease and other underlying health problems that placed her immune system at great risk. Last March, the H7N9 bird flu virus broke out, infecting approximately 140 patients and killing around 45. Almost all of the cases reported were by people from the mainland. The outbreak was eventually controlled after the country closed several of its live animal markets. Scientists initially assumed that the virus infected people through their exposure to live birds.

"The World Health Organization (WHO) officials were working closely with Chinese authorities to better understand the new virus. He said though its source remains unknown, birds are known to carry it and it would not be surprising if another human case was detected," said Timothy O'Leary, spokesman for WHO. "It's worrisome any time a disease jumps the species barrier from animals to humans. That said, the case is under investigation (by Chinese authorities) and there's no evidence of human-to-human transmission yet," O'Leary added.