Towards the end of February two men in Shanghai China fell ill and died from a strain of influenza (H7N9). There is also a report of a women in a close location in poor condition infected by the same flu strain. This strain is carried by birds and has never infected humans before these cases.
This virus has previously been transmitted only between animals and human infection has not occurred. It doesn’t appear that the WHO (World Health Organization) is aware of why the virus took the leap from animal to human but they appear fairly certain that it is an isolated incident.
It’s a good thing that China is reporting on disease mutations so that the rest of the world has a chance to be ready for threats of new diseases and viruses. While this current mutation of bird flu hasn’t adapted to transmit directly between humans it’s impossible to know the future transmutability of this dangerous strain of flu.
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To read more about it check out this article on Rutgers: No sign of human transmission in new bird flu appearance: WHO