Chile has identified the first human case of bird flu, according to the country’s health ministry on Wednesday.
According to a ministry statement, the case was discovered in a 53-year-old man who had severe influenza symptoms, but the patient was in stable condition.
The government is also looking into the source of the infection as well as others who came into contact with the patient.
Since late last year, Chile has reported cases of H5N1 bird flu in wild animals.
Recent incidents in industrial farms prompted the government to suspend poultry exports. Although industrial cases have been detected in Argentina, Brazil, the world’s largest poultry exporter, remains free of the virus.
The virus can be transmitted from birds or marine mammals to humans, but no human-to-human transmission has been documented.
Ecuador confirmed its first case of human transmission of bid flu earlier this year in a 9-year-old girl. Although global health officials have stated that the risk of human-to-human transmission is low, vaccine manufacturers have been preparing bird flu shots for humans “just in case.”
