In early June, a 41-year-old male resident of Fujian Province died of severe pneumonia and organ failure attributed to H5N6 influenza.

Over the past ten years, 92 cases of confirmed H5N6 infection have been reported to the WHO, regrettably with a 40 percent fatality rate.

A retrospective study of cases of H5N6 showed that in 2021 isolates were classified as subclade 2.3.4.4b with four new genotypes responsible for the incident cases.  Mammalian-adapted mutations were identified in the haemagglutinin genes but there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission. *

*Zhu, W. et al.  Epidemiologic, Clinical and Genetic Characteristics of Human Infections with Influenza A (H5N6) Viruses. China.Emerg.Infect.Dis. 2022;28:1332-1344. doi:10.3201/eid 2807.212482