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According to Chinese officials, an elderly woman has passed away after contracting an extremely rare strain of the avian flu. The 73-year-old woman was infected with the strain known at H10N8 earlier this month and was hospitalized on November 30. Due to several other health conditions, the woman died on December 6 due to respiratory failure. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed the infection.

The patient was from the Jiangxi province and had a history of coming into contact with live poultry. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), she had gone to a live poultry market a few days before her illness manifested. At the hospital in the provincial capital of Nanchang, she suffered from severe pneumonia, high blood pressure, heart disease and a muscular weakness condition. The officials stated that H10N8 is extremely rare and that the virus should not be a threat for possible widespread infections.

"According to expert analysis, initial assessments consider the death as an individual case, and risk of human infection is low," a release from China's National Health and Family Planning Commission stated reported by CNN.

Dr. Lee Poon, an associate professor of public health from the University of Hong Kong added, "I think this [case] is an outlier."

Even though H10N8 is rare, it has been detected in some live poultry markets in Guangdong Province and in the Dongting Lake wetland since 1965. Furthermore, in 2010, Australian workers tested positive for a H10 subtype virus. In this case, the infections were considered to be mild. The Chinese officials reiterated the fact that H7N9 currently poses a greater risk for the public. H7N9 has infected over 100 people and killed 45.

Once again, health authorities remind people to stay clean by washing their hands, covering their noses and covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze. In addition, officials remind people to avoid contact with live birds.