The World Health Organization expresses "enormous concern" over the spread of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza to new species, including humans. Between 2003 and April 1, 2024, the WHO said it recorded a total of 889 human cases ofAvian influenza in 23 countries, including 463 deaths, bringing the case fatality rate to 52%.
At the beginning of April, American authorities announced that a person had tested positive for avian influenza after being infected by a dairy cow in Texas. A nine-year-old boy, carrier of the H5n1 strain, died in Cambodia in February, following three deaths in the same country in 2023. In the United States, the patient had shown "redness of the eyes (corresponding to conjunctivitis), as the only symptom," authorities said, adding that he was isolated and treated with an antiviral drug used for influenza.