China reports world's first death from H5N6 bird flu

A Chinese man has died from the H5N6 strain of bird flu, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday, which could be the world's first confirmed case of human infection with the virus subtype. A 49-year-old man from Nanchong City in southwest China's Sichuan Province was confirmed to have contracted the virus, and has died in hospital, local health authorities said, according to the report. The patient had been exposed to dead poultry, but people who had close contact with him have shown no symptoms. Experts believe the infection is an individual case and the risk of further infection is low, the report said. It could be the first confirmed case of human infection with the H5N6 strain, a subtype of the H5 variety, which causes severe disease in humans, including acute and often lethal respiratory failure. H5N6 avian influenza virus has been detected in poultry and environmental samples in Germany, Sweden and the US, but never found human infection confirmed cases, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control said on its Website. The H5N6 strain is different from the H7N9 strain, which was first reported in China in March 2013. The country reported about 250 H7N9 bird flu cases resulting in 96 fatalities in the January-March period.