China Reports 1st Human Death of H3N8 Bird Flu, WHO Says

China reported the first human death of the bird flu, World Health Organization announced on Tuesday.

The reported death is for a Chinese woman and she is the first human to die from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans.

The 56-year-old woman is from the southern province of Guangdong and she was the third person infected with the H3N8 strain of avian influenza, the WHO added in the report.

The three cases were reported in China last year. The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported the third infection late last month.

Although it is rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds and infected other mammals.

The WHO said in the statement: “Based on available information, it appears that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person, and therefore the risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low.