NEW DELHI: The World Health Organization (WHO) reports the first documented human death caused by the H5N2 strain of bird flu in Mexico.

The WHO said it was not clear how the person became infected.

“The source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, although H5N2 viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico,” WHO said in a statement.

The scientists are on high alert for viral changes that might enable bird flu to become more transmissible among humans. But according to the UN agency the present risk of the bird flu virus to the general population in Mexico is low.
The 59-year-old man, who had been hospitalised in Mexico City, died on 24 April after developing a fever, diarrhoea, nausea, shortness of breath and general discomfort, the WHO said on Wednesday.

The Mexico’s health ministry stated on Wednesday stating that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission in the recent H5N2 death, and that he had several underlying health conditions , all people who had contact with him have tested negative.

Earlier in March, Mexico’s government reported an outbreak of H5N2 in an isolated family unit in the country’s western Michoacan state. But assured at the time it did not represent a risk to distant commercial farms, nor to human health.

However, after the April death, Mexican authorities confirmed the presence of the virus and reported the case to the WHO.
While three H5N2 outbreaks occurred in nearby Mexican regions in March, authorities haven't established a link to the recent human case. 

Additionally, scientists explain this is unrelated to the separate H5N1 outbreak impacting US dairy farms, which has infected three workers so far.
Notably, other bird flu varieties have killed people across the globe in previous years, including 18 people in China during an outbreak of H5N6 in 2021, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Andrew Pekosz, influenza expert at Johns Hopkins points out that, compared to other avian influenza viruses, H5 viruses have exhibited a persistent ability to infect mammals since 1997.

“The virus continues to ring that warning bell that we should be very cautious about screening for these infections, because every spillover is an opportunity for that virus to try to accumulate those mutations that make it better infect humans,” he said.

Many cases of bird flu have now been identified in mammals including  seals, raccoons, bears and cattle, primarily due to contact with infected birds.