On May 23, Mexican health authorities reported the death to the WHO, marking the first human death from the avian influenza A virus, according to a WHO news release. A 59-year-old Mexican resident had developed a fever, shortness of breath, nausea, diarrhea and malaise by April 17, officials said. The unnamed individual was hospitalized in Mexico City on April 24 and died that same day.
No other individuals infected with this strain of bird flu were found during the WHO's investigation. Twenty-nine people who came in contact with the infected person, either in the hospital or in the person's neighborhood, tested negative for the flu and for COVID-19. The bird flu subtype was initially detected in March in a backyard poultry farm in Michoacán, the state bordering the one where the infected person lived, according to officials.