What is H10N3 strain of avian influenza? Is it dangerous to humans? Here are the details

China on Tuesday confirmed the world’s first case of a human infected with H10N3 avian influenza in the country’s east Jiangsu province. As per their health authorities, it was a rare poultry-to-human transmission and noted that the risk of large-scale spread of bird flu is extremely low. The world’s first case of a human infected with avian influenza was confirmed in a 41-year-old man from Zhenjiang. 

What is H10N3?

H10N3 is a subtype of the Influenza A virus which is commonly known as the bird flu virus. The virus is normally fatal to wild birds and poultry because among animals it can be spread through respiratory droplets, similar to flu and COVID-19, reportedly said Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the Pathogen Biology Department at Wuhan University.

How dangerous is H10N3 avian influenza?

It is a low pathogenic or relatively less severe strain of the avian flu in poultry and its risk of spreading on a large scale is very low, Chinese health experts have claimed. As per reports, a regional laboratory coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization's Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases at the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,  Filip Claes, assured and said, “The strain is not a very common virus.” He also said that only about 160 isolates of the virus have been reported in the past 40 years (till 2018), that too, mostly in wild birds or waterfowl in Asia and some parts of North America. None had been detected in chickens as of now. 

How to prevent the spread of H10N3 among people?

• People should avoid contact with sick or dead poultry and avoid direct contact with live birds as much as possible.
• People must pay attention to food hygiene at the moment.
• People should wear masks and improve self-protection awareness, while constantly monitoring fever and respiratory symptoms, China's National Health Commission (NHC) has advised.