Prior to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily press conference at the National Palace, Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer commented on the WHO's announcement that a person died in the country due to the A(H5N2) virus.
Stating that the WHO issued an "erroneous" statement, Alcocer said, "I want to express that the communiqué issued by the WHO is very bad because it talks about a fatal case, which was not the case, this person died of another cause."
Alcocer announced that the 59-year-old person the WHO was referring to did not die from the A(H5N2) virus, but from complications from diabetes and kidney failure.
In a written statement made by WHO, it was noted that Mexican health authorities notified WHO of a confirmed fatal case of human infection with the A(H5N2) virus.
While it was stated that the virus was detected in a person living in the state of Mexico, it was reported that this was the first laboratory-confirmed case of A(H5N2) in a person worldwide.
While it was noted that the source of "exposure to the virus" in this case was not yet known, it was reminded that the A(H5N2) virus was reported in poultry in Mexico.
