A 3-year-old girl in Mexico died this month after being infected with the H5N1 bird flu, according to a report published by the World Health Organization this week.
The authorities claim that the stump of the bird flu is one that circulates in wild birds throughout North America, known as D1.1. It is the same strain involved in the Death of a person in Louisiana Earlier this year, and in the case of a 13 -year -old which was placed on life support for several weeks before recovering.
Two others, a wyoming person and a poultry worker in Ohio, would also have had a serious illness after exposure to this virus strain.
The tension was detected in Dairy herds from Nevada and Arizona.
“The case in Mexico is another great recall of the danger for dangerous H5 viruses,” said Richard Webby, expert in infectious diseases at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Tension D1.1 is widespread in the United States and Canada, but until this week reports, it was not clear how far tension had traveled, he said.
“It has been a very active virus to date,” he said, and “additional spread will undoubtedly lead to more infections, both in birds and humans.”
He said researchers are now waiting for the publication of the genetic sequence, which will provide more information on the fact that there have been other changes that could make it more serious and / or transmitted.
According to WHOThe symptoms of the girl, who included fever, discomfort and vomiting, began on March 7. She was admitted to a Durango state hospital on March 13 due to respiratory failure. It was treated with Oseltamivir, an antiviral drug the next day. On March 16, she was transferred to another hospital in the city of Torreón.
She died on April 8 from “respiratory complications”.
The girl had no underlying medical conditions, had not received seasonal flu vaccination and had no travel history, according to the WHO report.
The source of the child's infection remains under study.
According to the report, 91 people have been identified as toddlers, including 21 household contacts, 60 health workers and 10 people from a daycare center. Each of these people was tested and all have been tested negative for the virus.
Between 2022 and August 2024, 75 H5N1 poultry epidemics were reported through Mexico, although none in Durango. At the end of January 2025, a sick vulture at the Sahuatoba zoo, in Durango, was diagnosed with the virus. In addition, dozens of wilderness of the state have also been reported, including a Canadian goose.
The virus still circulates in American dairy herds, poultry, wild birds and wild mammals. Since April 1, There have been five new infected dairy herd reports from California, 15 in Idaho and one from Arizona, according to the American department of agriculture.
There have also been dozens of domestic cats infected with the virus, especially Three recent reports from the counties of Orange and Alameda in California: two in orange and one in Alameda.
According to American centers for the control and prevention of diseasesThere have been 70 cases reported in H5N1 bird flu in the United States since March 2024, when the virus was reported for the first time in dairy herds. There was a death, a person over 65 of Louisiana.
Health officials say that the risk of H5N1 bird flu to the general public remains low and that there has been no indication of person to person. Most cases have been associated with contact with infected cattle and poultry.
