First known human case of H3N8 bird flu was detected and confirmed in Beijing, China On Tuesday. This is the first known human case of the avain flu.

Avain flu is a type of influenza that is spread among birds. A four year old boy tested positive with bird flu. The family believes he may have gotten it from the chickens they raise and the wild ducks in the area.
However, it is rare for such cases to spread or affect humans. This is because it has many strains, most of which don’t impact humans.

The National Health Commission of China, says the boy tested positive for the strain after being hospitalized with a fever and other symptoms. The birds infected the boy directly, but the commission reassured the public that the strain doesn’t have “the ability to effectively infect humans”. There were no abnormalities and this case was a “once off cross-species transmission and the risk of large-scale transmission is low” the commission said.

However, the commission warned the public to stay away from dead or sick birds and to seek immediate health care for fever or any respiratory symptoms.