New Strain Of Bird Flu Kills 1 In China

Experts say the 73 year old woman from Anchang City caught the H10N8 virus after visiting a live poultry market.

It has however not been confirmed whether the poultry market was the source of the infection

A second person has since become infected in China's Jiangxi province.

In recent months, China has been coping with an outbreak of a similar influenza virus called H7N9, which has killed around a quarter of those infected.

Scientists who have studied the new H10N8 virus say it has evolved some genetic characteristics that may allow it to replicate efficiently in humans

The concern is that it could ultimately be able to spread from person to person, although experts stress that there is no evidence of this yet.

According to Dr John McCauley, a Director with the World Health Organization (WHO), "The potential epidemiological significance of this zoonotic infection is not clear. Avian influenza viruses of the sub-type H10N8 are probably not particularly unusual. Whether there were complications in this case is unclear.”

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "We should always be worried when viruses cross the species barrier from birds or animals to humans as it is very unlikely that we will have prior immunity to protect us.”

By Beth Nyaga