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China has said it has detected the first case of human H3N8 strain of bird flu, but Chinese health officials say the risk of human transmission is low.

The strain is known to infect horses, dogs and seals, but has never been found in humans.

The infected man is a 4-year-old boy living in Henan Province.

It tested positive for the strain after being admitted for treatment in early April due to fever and other symptoms.

The child's family raises chickens and lives in an area inhabited by wild ducks.

The child was infected directly from birds, according to the Chinese Ministry of Health.

Tests were performed on the boy's relatives, but no anomaly was found in them, BTA reported.

The number of bird flu cases in Albania is increasing

Cases of human transmission of bird flu are extremely rare.

The H5N1 and H7N9 strains, discovered in 1997 and 2013, respectively, were at the root of human bird flu cases, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to a 2012 US study, the H3N8 strain caused deadly pneumonia in more than 160 seals off the coast of the United States in 2011. 

bird flue