China confirms first global case of human bird flu strain

No other cases of human infection with the H10N3 virus have previously been reported globally.

A 41-year-old man in China's eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) confirmed the news in an online statement on Tuesday.

They added that no other cases of human infection with H10N3 have previously been reported globally.

"The risk of large-scale spread is extremely low," the NHC said, adding that the man was in a stable condition and his close contacts had reported no "abnormalities".

The man was hospitalised on 28 April after developing a fever and other symptoms, they said in the statement.

He was diagnosed with the virus on 28 May, however, the commission provided no details on how the man had came to be infected with the virus.

The man has since been deemed stable and ready to leave hospital after medical observation of his close contacts found no other cases.

The NHC added that the virus is a low pathogenic, or relatively less severe strain of the virus in poultry.

They added that the risk of it spreading at a large scale was "extremely low".

There have been no significant numbers of human infections with bird flu since the H7N9 strain killed around 300 people back in 2016 and 2017.