Mexico’s first human case of avian flu

The Mexican Health Ministry has announced the detection of the first confirmed human case of H5N1 avian influenza in the country. The case is reported to be that of a three-year-old girl residing in the northern state of Durango, who is currently hospitalised in a serious condition. The Health Ministry has stated that there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the public health risks posed by the virus as low. According to Italian virologists who have commented on this news, children are among those most at risk. However, they are little exposed to avian influenza outbreaks that mainly develop in poultry or livestock farms. However, the probability of selecting a pandemic strain, i.e. one adapted to the human species, increases with repeated passage from animals to humans and vice versa, although at present, H5N1 cases remain sporadic, and human-to-human transmission is inefficient.