A woman in southwestern China has died from avian influenza H5N6 after purchasing, slaughtering, and consuming poultry — a pattern of exposure that has driven nearly every human case of the virus since it first appeared in the region more than a decade ago. The World Health Organization confirmed the death in its Avian Influenza Weekly Update Number 1044, published May 8, 2026.
The patient, a 55-year-old resident of Chongqing Municipality, developed symptoms on April 16, was hospitalized a week later with severe pneumonia, and died on May 3. Environmental sampling from her cutting board tested positive for influenza A(H5), consistent with direct exposure through the handling of infected birds. All close contacts tested negative and remained asymptomatic, providing no indication of human-to-human transmission.
A Deadly Strain With a Long Record
H5N6 is among the more lethal subtypes of avian influenza circulating in the Western Pacific Region. Since the first human case was recorded in 2014, WHO has confirmed 93 laboratory cases in the region, of which 58 have been fatal — a case fatality rate of 62.4 percent. The strain circulates primarily in domestic poultry in China, where the vast majority of human infections have been reported.
The Chongqing case is the most recent in a string of sporadic human cases that have occurred with regularity across China, driven largely by direct contact with live poultry in household and market settings.
Broader Avian Influenza Picture
The WHO update covers multiple avian influenza subtypes circulating in the Western Pacific Region. No new human cases of H5N1 were reported during the same reporting period. The most recent H5N1 case in the region had symptom onset on April 15 in Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia. Cumulatively, since 2003, 484 H5N1 cases have been reported across six countries in the Western Pacific Region, with 320 deaths — a case fatality rate of 66.1 percent. Globally, the H5N1 toll stands at 997 confirmed cases and 478 deaths across 25 countries since 2003.
Risk Assessment and Public Health Implications
WHO’s current risk assessment characterizes the overall pandemic risk posed by H5 viruses as unchanged from prior years. Available evidence indicates that circulating H5 strains have not acquired the capacity for sustained human-to-human transmission, and the close contacts of the Chongqing patient showed no signs of infection. Nevertheless, WHO considers the zoonotic threat elevated due to the continued spread of avian influenza viruses in bird populations across the region.
The agency recommends that member states maintain vigilance and take steps to reduce human exposure to potentially infected poultry — guidance that carries particular weight in countries like China, where live poultry markets remain a common feature of daily commerce and a recurring source of spillover infections.
Sources and further reading:
Avian Influenza Weekly Update Number 1044 – World Health Organization Western Pacific Region