Taiwan confirms 1st human infection of H6N1

TAIPEI - Taiwan's disease control authority on Friday confirmed that the world's first human infection of H6N1 bird flu has been reported on the island, adding that the patient has already recovered.

The patient was identified as a 20-year-old woman from central Taiwan. She has not left Taiwan recently and has not had any recent contact with birds, according to the authority.

The authority said a hospital reported on May 20 that an unconfirmed type of flu virus was found in respiratory tract samples taken from the patient, who was initially diagnosed with pneumonia.

Further testing confirmed the virus to be H6N1, a low-pathogenic avian influenza virus that exists commonly in birds but has never been reported in humans, according to the authority.

Four of the 36 people the patient has had close contact with have shown flu-like symptoms, although possible H6N1 infections were ruled out by tests.

No H6N1 virus has been found in samples collected from two poultry breeding sites located close to the patient's home, the authority said, citing testing results from the island's agricultural oversight agency.