No, bird flu infection not 'made up' for patient in Mexico | Fact check

The claim: Bird flu diagnosis 'made up' for patient who died in Mexico

A June 25 Instagram post ( direct link , archive link ) claims a dead man who health officials said was infected with a certain strain of bird flu did not actually have the virus.

"The dude who supposedly died of bird flu in Mexico had 'chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes' and 'had no history of exposure to poultry,'" reads the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter . "Oh, so basically they made up the bird flu part. Because of course they did."

The post was liked more than 900 times in a week. The original X post was reposted thousands of times.

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Our rating: False

A lab confirmed through genetic analysis that the man in Mexico was infected with a strain of bird flu not found before in humans, according to the World Health Organization. The man died due to underlying medical conditions, not the virus.

Man died from underlying conditions, but still had bird flu

In late April, a 59-year-old man hospitalized in Mexico died after he was confirmed to be the first person infected with a strain of bird flu not previously found in humans. Mexican authorities said the man died from complications related to multiple underlying health conditions, not the virus, the WHO said in a June 14 statement.

The man's relatives reported he had been bedridden for three weeks for other reasons before experiencing bird flu symptoms. However, there is no evidence the man's bird flu infection was "made up," as the post claims. His was the first laboratory-confirmed human case of the H5N2 strain of bird flu reported globally.

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Experts who investigated the man's cause of death concluded that "although the patient had a laboratory-confirmed infection with (the H5N2 strain of virus), he died due to complications of his comorbidities," the WHO statement says.

A genetic analysis confirmed the strain of the virus and found it had a "99% similarity" to a strain taken from poultry in Mexico earlier in 2024, though the exact source of the man's exposure is "currently unknown," according to the WHO. The post correctly notes the man had no known history of exposure to poultry .

Genetics allow researchers to identify virus strains

Bird flu , or avian flu, is a virus that spreads among wild birds and can also infect domestic poultry and other animal species. It doesn't often spread to humans, but sporadic infections have been reported. There have been fewer than 1,000 reported cases globally since it was first identified in humans in 1997, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

In humans, symptoms can resemble a typical flu – fever, sore throat, muscle aches, nausea and congestion, among others – but can also progress into more serious respiratory symptoms .

Researchers identify strains of viruses through a process called genetic characterization , said Dr. Dean Blumberg , chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Health. It involves comparing genetic sequences of different viruses, according to the CDC.

In the case in question, Mexico's National Institute of Respiratory Diseases confirmed the strain of virus was H5N2.

"Therefore, this is not 'made up,'" Blumberg told USA TODAY. "The report of H5N2 infection is based on genetic sequencing."

Three cases of a different strain of bird flu have been detected in humans in the U.S. as of early July 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Dr. Dean Blumberg , June 28, Email exchange with USA TODAY
• WHO, June 14, Avian Influenza A(H5N2) - Mexico
• WHO, June 5, Avian Influenza A(H5N2) - Mexico
• Cleveland Clinic, accessed June 28, Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)
• CDC, June 22, How CDC is monitoring influenza data among people to better understand the current avian influenza A (H5N1) situation
• CDC, accessed June 28, Influenza Virus Genome Sequencing and Genetic Characterization

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, bird flu infection not 'made up' for patient in Mexico | Fact check