3-year-old girl dies from H5N1 bird flu in Mexico’s first human case

A three-year-old girl who became Mexico’s first confirmed human case of H5N1 avian influenza has died, the country’s Health Ministry announced. It marks Mexico’s first fatality linked to the bird flu strain, which has caused a growing number of human infections across the globe in recent years.

The child, a resident of the state of Durango, died at 1:35 a.m. local time from respiratory complications related to the infection, according to the Ministry of Health. She had been in critical condition at a hospital in the city of Torreón since being diagnosed on April 1.

Health officials said 38 individuals who had contact with the girl have all tested negative for the virus, and no additional human cases have been identified. Authorities said that the overall risk to the public remains low.

The child reportedly lived in La Aurora, a rural community in the municipality of Gómez Palacio, according to local media. The source of her infection remains undetermined, but health authorities are continuing to collect samples from backyard poultry in the area. Residents in nearby communities had previously reported the sudden deaths of chickens.

This marks the first confirmed human case of H5N1 in Mexico. Previously, in June 2024, the country reported the world’s first human case of H5N2 avian influenza, involving a 59-year-old man in the State of Mexico who later died.

Since April 2022, at least 75 confirmed human infections with H5N1 have been reported in the Americas, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Most cases have been linked to direct exposure to infected poultry or dairy cattle.

LINK: A list of all human cases of H5N1 bird flu since 2021

The specific clade involved in Mexico’s H5N1 case has not yet been confirmed, but it is suspected to be clade 2.3.4.4b — the predominant strain circulating in the Americas since 2022. This clade has been linked to human infections across a broad geographic range, from Chile to Canada, and has been especially widespread in the United States.

Globally, concerns about avian influenza have intensified since the emergence of clade 2.3.4.4b, which has spread widely among birds and mammals in recent years. The virus’s growing geographic reach and increasing number of mammalian infections have raised alarm among health experts.

To date, two deaths from H5N1 have been confirmed in the Americas during the current outbreak, including the first fatal case of avian influenza in the United States, reported in the state of Louisiana.