The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed this Wednesday the death of a person that was caused by a subtype of avian influenza.
The WHO said that it is a 59-year-old resident of Mexico, who died on April 24 after developing fever, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, nausea and general malaise.
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This was the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with the AH5N2 subtype of avian influenza reported worldwide and the first infection with the H5 virus in a person reported in Mexico.
The victim had no history of exposure to poultry or other animals, the WHO said.
Cases of avian influenza subtype A(H5N2) have been reported in poultry in Mexico.
The person had chronic illnesses and had been bedridden for three weeks for other reasons, before the onset of acute symptoms, the WHO reported.
The WHO recalled that in March an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N2) was detected in a poultry farm in the state of Michoacán, bordering the State of Mexico, where the patient resided.
For its part, the Mexican Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that there is no risk of contagion for the population after the detection of the first human case of low-pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N2) in the country.
Report by Barbara Anderson.
