04.06.2015

Sci Rep (2015)

H5N6 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) may pose a potential human risk as suggested by the first documented naturally-acquired human H5N6 virus infection in 2014. A recent publication reports the first cases of fatal H5N6 avian influenza virus (AIV) infection in a domestic cat and wild birds (swan geese) - The H5N6-infected swan geese were identified in Baicheng, China which is adjacent to inner Mongolia. These cases followed human H5N6 infections in China and preceded an H5N6 outbreak in chickens. The extensive migration routes of wild birds may contribute to the geographic spread of H5N6 AIVs and pose a risk to humans and susceptible domesticated animals, and the H5N6 AIVs may spread from southern China to northern China by wild birds.