Russia said on Saturday that its scientists had detected the world's first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu from birds to humans and had alerted the World Health Organization.
The head of Russia's health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain's genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December.
(Note: - People can get infected with avian and swine influenza viruses, such as bird flu subtypes A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) and swine flu subtypes such as A(H1N1). Usually it's contact through animals and there is no sustained transmission among humans. H5N1 in people can cause severe illness and has a 60 percent mortality rate.)
PS: Sorry typo on the header.... should read as "the first case"
The head of Russia's health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain's genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December.
(Note: - People can get infected with avian and swine influenza viruses, such as bird flu subtypes A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) and swine flu subtypes such as A(H1N1). Usually it's contact through animals and there is no sustained transmission among humans. H5N1 in people can cause severe illness and has a 60 percent mortality rate.)
PS: Sorry typo on the header.... should read as "the first case"
