# 1721
While human to human (h2h) transmission of the H5N1 virus appears to have happened on more than one occasion, so far, the primary route of transmission to humans remains through direct contact with infected birds.
In December of last year China recorded what appears to have been a case of h2h transmission, between a son and his father, so concerns over the nature of the last 3 cases are natural. These latest cases, however, are spread across 3 different provinces, and in each case, contact with sick or dead poultry was reported.
Today the WHO announced that there was no evidence that these latest cases stemmed from h2h transmission.
WHO rules out human transmission in China bird flu deaths
27 Feb 2008 09:20:33 GMT
Source: Reuters
BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - All three Chinese who died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu this year had contact with sick poultry, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday, adding there was no evidence of transmission between humans.
A 44-year-old woman in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Monday became the third human death from the virus this year in China, following cases in Hunan and Guangxi.
"The three recent cases were not unexpected considering the winter season and the fact that we know the virus is still circulating in the environment," the WHO's China director, Hans Troedsson, said in a statement. Bird flu tends to be more active in the cold.
"We have no indications of any larger number of undetected cases," he said.
