H9N2 case triggers WHO guidance in Europe
European health authorities circulated guidance after a man in Italy was diagnosed with imported H9N2 bird flu. The WHO advised people to avoid contact with sick or dead birds as a precautionary step. (mirror.co.uk)
Italy has reported Europe’s first imported human case of H9N2 bird flu, and the World Health Organization said the current risk to the general population remains low. (who.int) The World Health Organization said Italy notified it on March 21, 2026, after tests in Lombardy confirmed H9N2 in an adult man who had returned from Senegal in mid-March. (who.int) The patient went to an emergency department with fever and a persistent cough, was placed in a negative-pressure isolation room, and was treated with oseltamivir alongside tuberculosis drugs after a sample also tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. (who.int) H9N2 is a bird flu subtype that usually circulates in poultry, not in people. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said human infections have usually been linked to direct contact with infected birds or contaminated environments. (ecdc.europa.eu) The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said this was the first human H9N2 case ever reported in the European Union and European Economic Area, but not the first worldwide. Since 1998, 195 human cases had been reported across 10 countries in Asia and Africa as of February 27, 2026. (ecdc.europa.eu) Those earlier cases have usually been mild. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said only two of the 195 known cases were fatal and that no clusters or documented person-to-person transmission had been reported. (ecdc.europa.eu) Italian officials said the patient had co-existing medical conditions and that routine surveillance and prevention measures were activated immediately after the diagnosis in Lombardy. (salute.gov.it) The World Health Organization said investigators did not find a known history of poultry exposure before symptoms began, but genetic analysis showed the virus was closely related to H9N2 strains previously identified in poultry in Senegal. (who.int) Italian authorities traced contacts in Italy, and the World Health Organization said all of them tested negative for influenza, completed active monitoring, and received oseltamivir as a preventive measure. Contacts identified in Senegal were reported as asymptomatic. (who.int) The World Health Organization’s public advice did not change Europe’s risk assessment. It repeated standard precautions: avoid contact with sick or dead birds, avoid high-risk live animal environments, and seek medical care after animal exposure if symptoms appear. (who.int)
