Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- An elderly woman infected with a strain of avian flu that is rarely seen in humans died in China earlier this month -- marking the first human fatality from the H10N8 virus . The 73-year-old woman in Jiangxi province was admitted to a hospital on November 30 , suffering from several ailments including severe pneumonia , hypertension , heart disease and a muscular weakness condition . She died on December 6 . The woman had a history of contact with live poultry markets , and had visited a live bird market four days before the onset of her illness , according to the World Health Organization . `` 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 . People who are elderly or immune-compromised , like the patient , are more susceptible to the serious outcomes from flu . The people who had been around the woman were in normal health , according to Chinese health authorities . Dr. Leo Poon , associate professor of public health at the University of Hong Kong said he was not really concerned with a possible spread of H10N8 . `` I think this is an outlier , '' he said . This is not the first human case of the H10 subtype , as the virus has jumped from birds to humans before , according to the scientific literature . In 2010 , two Australians workers processing abattoir tested positive for a subtype of H10 infection , but their cases were considered mild . The H10N8 avian flu virus has been detected in live bird markets in Guangdong Province in China as well as the Dongting Lake wetland , according to previous scientific reports . Poon said the H7N9 virus , with over 100 confirmed cases in China and two in Hong Kong , is `` far more serious . '' That virus , first reported in China in March 2013 , is believed to result from exposure to infected poultry . The scope of the disease remains unknown , but has raised concern because most patients with H7N9 have been severely ill and 45 have died . According to the World Health Organization , there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission of H7N9 . Health authorities recommend washing hands , covering nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing . Hong Kong health authorities warned travelers against visiting live poultry markets and to avoid direct contact with poultry , birds and their droppings . CNN 's Keng Fe in Beijing and journalist Naomi Ng contributed to this article .
A 73-year-old woman , confirmed to have H10N8 avian flu virus , died . Score: 6 Chinese health authorities : Risk of human infection is low . H7N9 outbreak said to pose greater risk to public health .