Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus – 06 JAN 2023

H5N1: a case fatality rate (CFR) of 56%

Between 23 December 2022 and 5 January 2023, no new cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus were reported to WHO in the Western Pacific Region.

As of 5 January 2023, a total of 240 cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus have been reported from four countries within the Western Pacific Region since January 2003 (Table 1). Of these cases, 135 were fatal, resulting in a case fatality rate (CFR) of 56%. The last case was reported from China, with an onset date of 22 September 2022 and died on 18 October 2022. This is the first case of avian influenza A(H5N1) reported from China since 2015.

Table 1: Cumulative number of laboratory-confirmed human cases (C) and deaths (D) of influenza A(H5N1) virus infection reported to WHO, by date of onset (January 2003 to 5 January 2023), Western Pacific Region

Globally, from January 2003 to 25 November 2022, there have been 868 cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus reported from 21 countries. Of these 868 cases, 457 were fatal (CFR of 53%) (Source).