A woman has died in China from H3N8 bird flua virus circulating since 2002 but until today had not caused any human deathy, announced the World Health Organization.

The H3N8 virus first appeared in North America and until now scientists thought it could be transmitted to horses, dogs and elephant seals. It had not been detected in humans until last spring, when two non-fatal cases were reported in China in April and May.

The woman who died was a 56-year-old woman from Guangdong province in southeast China. He fell ill on February 22 and was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on March 3. He died on the 16th of the month, according to the WHO.

“The patient had several underlying diseases. She had been exposed to live poultry before she became ill, as well as wild birds around her home.” the Organization said in its announcement. None of her close contacts were infected, nor had they shown symptoms of the disease “at the time of writing this report”he added.

The woman may have been infected when she came into contact with live birds at a market, but the exact source of the infection is yet to be ascertained. The relationship between this virus and the other avian influenzas of type A (H3N8) that are transmitted to animals remains unknown, notes the WHO, asking for research on this issue.

The WHO underlined that the available data show that the virus is not transmitted from person to person and, therefore, the risk of spread at national, regional and global levels is considered “minimal”.

The WHO emphasized, however, that it is necessary to constantly monitor the situation, due to the risk of mutation of the virus.