According to WHO, as of May 22, no close relatives in Australia or India had symptoms.

The agency explained that genetic sequencing showed that the virus belongs to the H5N1 subtype and is part of a strain that is circulating in Southeast Asia and has been found in previous infections in humans and poultry.

Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that while it would be difficult to do so several months later, it would be necessary to find out whether the child was exposed to poultry or other birds, or whether there was an H5N1 outbreak nearby.

“H5N1 viruses do not transmit efficiently between people, and I suspect there is latent contact with animals that caused the infection,” Adalja said.

WHO clarifies recent death in Mexico caused by bird flu

The WHO clarified that the recent death of a patient in a hospital in Mexico is not associated with H5N2 avian influenza, but with “multifactorial” causes caused by other ailments and diseases.

“It is important to point out that the death was multifactorial and not caused by the H5N2 virus,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier confirmed at a press conference.

The official recalled that the patient arrived at the hospital after suffering from symptoms for several weeks and died on the same day he was examined at the medical center (April 24), after which he was tested positive for the H5N2 virus.