An elderly woman in China is the first person known to have died from a strain of bird flu called H10N8, according to a new report of the case.
The 73-year old woman, from Jiangxi Province in China, developed a fever, cough and chest tightness in late November last year, and was admitted to the hospital soon afterwards. Despite treatment with antibiotics and antivirals, her condition worsened, she developed severe pneumonia and many of her organs began to fail. She died on Dec. 9, nine days after her symptoms began.
Tests showed the woman did not have a seasonal flu virus, but rather, she was infected with H10N8, a flu virus that’s been detected previously in wild and domestic birds, but had never been seen in people. Late last month, another case of H10N8 was reported in a 55-year old woman living in the same province in China, and she is in stable condition, according to the World Health Organization.
Source: Live Science