Disease

New Flu Strain Jumps from Birds to a Human in Asia

A young woman in Taiwan has contracted a new strain of influenza A, which is very similar in structure to the H7N9 bird flu that killed 45 people and infected 139 other in China last year. The H6N1 strain is believed to have come from infected poultry and reacts to the same drugs that combat other strains of bird flu, like Tamiflu and Relenza, according to Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control.

Researchers there say H6N1 is widespread in poultry but no reported cases of transmission to humans have been found.

The Taiwanese patient fully recovered, and no trace of the virus was found in the 36 people with whom the woman had close contact.