Italy reports Europe’s first human H9N2 bird flu infection

Italy has reported the first known human case of avian influenza A(H9N2) in the European Union, involving a traveler who returned from a non-European country where the virus has previously been found in birds.

The case was reported in the Lombardy region, where the patient is in hospital isolation and receiving treatment, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Italy’s Health Ministry. The patient has underlying medical conditions.

Italian authorities said contacts of the patient were identified as part of routine prevention and surveillance measures.

The Health Ministry said it also activated coordination with Lombardy regional authorities, Italy’s National Institute of Health and national laboratory experts, and provided updates to relevant international bodies.

H9N2 is a type of bird flu virus that has caused 195 reported human infections worldwide since 1998, mostly in Asia and Africa, according to ECDC. Two of those cases were fatal.

According to ECDC, no clusters of H9N2 infections in humans and no documented person-to-person transmission have ever been reported. Human infections have most often been linked to direct contact with infected birds or contaminated environments.