In June 2021, Chinese health officials reported that a 41-year-old man living in Jiangsu Province had contracted H10N3 avian influenza, also known as the 'bird flu.
On June 1, 2021, health officials in China confirmed that a man tested positive for avian influenza A (H10N3) - making him the first known case in the world. After the case was first reported by Reuters, a number of news publications around the world ran with the story, and social media was abuzz with some users who drew connections to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated conspiracy theories. China is about to infect the world again with a newly discovered bird flu with human transmission. That means it's already been planted here. - RΞ4L ✪ (@P8R1OT) June 1, 2021 While it is true that a 41-year-old man was diagnosed with - and is now recovering from - the first known case of H10N3 bird flu, health officials said that the likelihood of widespread infection from the virus was low. In a now-translated news release, Beijing's National Health Commission reported that an unnamed man, who lives in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, began experiencing a fever and 'other symptoms' on April 23. Five days later, he was admitted to the intensive care unit of a local medical facility. On May 28, a genome sequence of samples taken from the patient and conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that the virus was H10N3 and of avian origin, but that it did not have the ability to 'effectively infect humans.' No other human cases have been reported as of this publication, and the NHC noted that the 'large-scale spread of epidemic risk' is 'extremely low.' As of this writing, the man was stable and waiting to be discharged. What remains unclear is how the man became infected with the virus in the first place. Snopes contacted the World Health Organization (WHO) for more details and in an emailed statement, the agency said that it was alerted to the H10N3 case on May 31, which represented the first-ever report to WHO of human infection with this particular strain of avian flu. 'The source of the patient's exposure to the H10N3 virus is not known at this time, and no other cases were found in emergency surveillance among the local population. At this time, there is no indication of human-to-human transmission,' the WHO told Snopes. 'Human infections with H10N3 have not been detected prior to this event. H10N3 is a low pathogenicity influenza virus in birds and have been detected periodically in birds in live bird markets as early as 2002. Further characterization of the virus is ongoing in the WHO Collaborating Center of GISRS in China.' WHO added that so long as avian influenza viruses circulate in poultry, sporadic infection in humans is not surprising, making it a 'vivid reminder that the threat of an influenza pandemic is persistent.' CDC The bird flu is a disease caused when a bird is infected with one of four subtypes of avian influenza: A, B, C, and D. These strains occur naturally in wild aquatic birds around the world and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species when they come into contact with another, according to the CDC. All but two subtypes can infect birds, yet only two influenza A virus subtypes (H1N1 and H3N2) have been known to infect humans - until now. Generally, the CDC considers risks of poultry-to-human transmission to be low in the U.S. but does recommend people take certain precautions when it comes to birds. Individuals should avoid sick or dead poultry and try to avoid contact with live birds when possible. If a fever or respiratory symptoms develop, they are encouraged to wear a mask and seek medical attention. Neither the WHO nor the CDC has issued additional screening precautions or restrictions on travel and trade. The WHO said that it is working with national authorities in China to 'further assess and characterize the event.' 
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