#18,734
When we get reports of novel flu cases out of China they are almost always belated, and usually devoid of much in the way of details. Last week Hong Kong's CHP reported bare details on 1 New H10N3 Case & 8 H9N2 Cases from the Mainland.
This morning, Hong Kong's CHP has a very brief report in their weekly avian influenza report on a recent H5N1 case in China's southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Since the previous issue of Avian Influenza Report (AIR), there was one new human case of avian influenza A(H5N1) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 23 May 2025. From 2015 to 2024, 0 to 145 confirmed human cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) were reported to the WHO
While there is frustratingly little information provided here, on page 2 of the report we learn a little bit more the following chart:
The 53 y.o. female is listed as an imported case from Vietnam, and has reportedly recovered.
Over the weekend the WHO WPRO (Western Pacific Regional Office) published their Avian Influenza Weekly Update # 998: 23 May 2025, and while it does not mention the patients age, gender, or supposed Vietnamese origin, it does add one additional detail; the patients discharge date (4/11/25) from the hospital.
Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus From 16 to 22 May 2025, one new case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus was reported to WHO in the Western Pacific Region. The new case was reported from Guangxi Autonomous Region, China. The case was recovered and discharged on 11 April 2025.
Missing from both reports are crucial details on the patient's likely exposure, course of illness, treatment, contacts, and the clade of the virus (clades 2.3.4.4b & Clade 2.3.2.1e have both been recently reported in Vietnam).
Official reports of novel flu outbreaks and infections from China (and increasingly, from elsewhere in the world) are often delayed for weeks and sometimes months - or are `sanitized' for political or economic reasons (see From Here To Impunity).
While we could go decades before the the next great global public health crisis emerges, with our current limited surveillance and dysfunctional sharing of information, it could start tomorrow and we might not know about it for weeks.
