An epidemiological overview of human infections with HxNy avian influenza in the Western Pacific Region, 2003–2022

Abstract

Avian influenza subtype A(HxNy) viruses are zoonotic and may occasionally infect humans through direct or indirect contact, resulting in mild to severe illness and death. Member States in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) communicate and notify the World Health Organization of any human cases of A(HxNy) through the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) mechanism. This report includes all notifications in the WPR with illness onset dates from 1 November 2003 to 31 July 2022. During this period, there were 1972 human infections with nine different A(HxNy) subtypes notified in the WPR. Since the last report, an additional 134 human avian influenza infections were notified from 1 October 2017 to 31 July 2022. In recent years there has been a change in the primary subtypes and frequency of reports of human A(HxNy) in the region, with a reduction of A(H7N9) and A(H5N1), and conversely an increase of A(H5N6) and A(H9N2). Furthermore, three new subtypes A(H7N4), A(H10N3) and A(H3N8) notified from the People’s Republic of China were the first ever recorded globally. The public health risk from known A(HxNy) viruses remains low as there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission. However, the observed changes in A(HxNy) trends reinforce the need for effective and rapid identification to mitigate the threat of a pandemic from avian influenza if person-to-person transmission were to occur.

First case of human infection with avian influenza H10N3 post COVID-19 pandemic ：A case report

“…Our report meticulously describes the rst case of human-infected avian in uenza H10N3 virus since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to the onset of the rst two globally reported cases [5,8], human infection with the H10N3 virus initially presents with common symptoms of respiratory disease, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue. These symptoms could be easily overlooked, leading to delayed treatment.…”

“…[H10N7]) [1].The rst human case of avian in uenza H10N3 was reported in Jiangsu Province, China in April 2021 [2,3].As of the latest WHO weekly report on avian in uenza surveillance until March 8th 2024, only two human cases of avian in uenza sub-type H10N3 have been reported globally, both in China [4]. This has become a public health concern worldwide [5][6][7]. In March 2024, a third case of avian in uenza H10N3 was reported in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.…”

The emergence of H3N8 avian influenza virus in humans: a looming threat to global health

“…Epidemiological studies have identified about 1687 human cases associated with the H7 influenza strain across eight countries until 2019, while the H7N9 strain has infected ~1568 people, claiming the lives of 616 individuals. Recently, new sub-types, including H3N8, H7N4, and H10N3, have been identified to cause human infections in China [4] . Additionally, the H3Ny subtypes of AIV have been found to possess the broadest host range, encompassing humans, pigs, wild birds, poultry, dogs, horses, cats, and seals, thereby presenting a highly alarming potential for widespread epidemic outbreaks [2] .…”