Mexico says a 3-year-old girl has died in the country's first human case of bird flu

Audio By Carbonatix

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 3-year-old girl in western Mexico has died after contracting bird flu in the country's first confirmed human case of bird flu, Mexican health authorities said Tuesday.

Mexico’s Health Ministry said in a statement that the girl from the western state of Durango died early Tuesday after she was hospitalized with respiratory complications caused by the infection.

Type A H5N1 influenza has been spreading through animals and some people in the United States. There have been 70 cases in that country since during the past year, according to the World Health Organization, though researchers and studies suggest that’s likely an undercount.

The girl had been hospitalized in the neighboring state of Coahuila. Health officials had announced she was the country’s first human infection on Friday.

It was not known how the girl contracted the virus. Investigators were testing wild birds in the vicinity of the girl’s home.

Health officials said that 38 human contacts with the girl had been tested and all came back negative for the bird flu. The risk of more human infections was considered low, the statement said.