The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that a 59-year-old man in Mexico, who was the first confirmed human case of H5N2 bird flu infection, had died due to multiple factors.

The WHO is continuing to investigate the situation, which was initially reported on Wednesday.

This marks the first laboratory-confirmed human infection with the H5N2 avian influenza virus, and Mexico’s health ministry has provided additional details about the case.

“a history of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes (and) long-standing systemic arterial hypertension”.

Before showing severe symptoms, he spent three weeks in bed.

On April 17, he developed a fever, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, nausea, and felt generally unwell.

He was admitted to a hospital in Mexico City on April 24 and passed away the same day.

“The death is a multi-factorial death, not a death attributable to H5N2,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a media briefing in Geneva on Friday.

“The patient came to the hospital after weeks of multi-factorial background of multi other diseases.”

After his passing, his body was tested for various viruses, including flu, and the results showed that he was positive for H5N2, according to Lindmeier.

Further testing was conducted on 17 individuals who had come into contact with him at the hospital, and all of them tested negative for influenza.

Additionally, 12 people who had been in close proximity to him at his residence in the weeks leading up to his illness also tested negative.

“Investigations are ongoing. Serology is ongoing. That means the blood testing of contacts to see if there was any possible earlier infection,” stated Lindmeier.

“At this point in time, as it is multi-factorial, it’s a multi-factorial death. But the infection of H5N2 is being investigated to see whether he was infected by somebody visiting or by any contact with any animals before.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that the origin of the H5N2 virus infection is still unknown, although outbreaks of H5N2 have occurred in Mexican poultry.

The WHO has evaluated the available data and considers the risk to the general public from this virus to be minimal.

Markus Lipp, a senior food safety expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), clarified that the risk of getting avian influenza from consuming poultry is low, emphasizing the safety of food handling.

“negligibly low”.

He mentioned, “In all the hundred years of avian influenza… there has not been any demonstrated food-borne transmission,” he told the briefing, via video link from the FAO’s headquarters in Rome.

“Animal handlers, of course, who are in extremely close contact with animals may get an infection but it’s an occupational risk. It’s not a food-borne transmission.

“Humans do not have avian influenza receptors in their gastrointestinal tract, contrary to certain animal species, as far as we know. So there is a very slim likelihood, just from that perspective.”

Of all the food safety risks when eating poultry, “probably the lowest risk is connected to avian influenza. There are many other microbiological risks that are more likely to cause harm to consumers if food is inadequately prepared,” he stated