Another bird flu pandemics? Give us a break!
logged the world's first ever human case of the H3N8 bird flu strain.
A four-year-old boy from Zhumadian, in the Henan province, tested positive for the avian influenza strain, local health chiefs confirmed.
The child — who had a fever — had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home.
The virus is usually spread through touching infected birds and their droppings, or when preparing infected poultry for cooking.
None of the boy's close contacts were infected with the strain.
China's National Health Commission has yet to provide any update on the boy. Bird flu is thought to kill up to half of those it infects, the NHC added.
Early investigations show the strain doesn't have the ability to be passed from human to human, prompting Chinese doctors to claim the risk of a large-scale outbreak was low.