Mexico’s Health Ministry has called out the World Health Organization (WHO) for alarmism following the death of a 59-year-old man in a Mexico City hospital who became infected with a new strain of bird flu, although he had no history of exposure to poultry or other animals.
The WHO said this is the first globally reported, laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with the influenza A(H5N2) virus.
Reports said the victim had been bedridden for three weeks prior to the onset of acute symptoms of avian flu. “On 17 April, the (patient) developed fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, nausea and general malaise. On 24 April, (he) was hospitalized at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases and died the same day due to complications of his condition,” the WHO said in a press release.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Mexican Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said the man suffered from diabetes and kidney problems, and rejected the assumption that he died as a result of the bird flu infection.
A Health Ministry statement said there is “no risk of contagion for the population” following the patient’s death. “It is important to note that during a thorough epidemiological investigation, all samples from identified contacts have tested negative.”
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