‘Extraordinary event’: Canada records its first case of bird flu | Health News
A British Columbia teenager has tested positive for H5 bird flu, and health authorities are investigating.
Canada has confirmed its first case of bird flu after a teenager tested positive for the virus, according to health authorities.
The teenager, from the western province of British Columbia, is believed to have contracted H5 bird flu from a bird or animal, the province said in a statement on Saturday. The infected person was treated at a children’s hospital.
The province said it is looking for who was in contact with the youth to find out the origin of the disease.
“This is an unusual event,” British Columbia health chief Bonnie Henry said in a statement. “We are doing a thorough investigation to fully understand the source of the exposure here in BC.”
Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland assured members of the public that the risk to them remains low.
1/ The Office of the Provincial Health Officer in British Columbia has reported a suspected human case of H5 bird flu found in Canada.
– Mark Holland (@markhollandlib) November 10, 2024
H5 bird flu has spread to wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and dairy cattle in the United States, with several recent human cases among US dairy and poultry workers.
The virus is suspected to have killed a number of captive tigers and other zoo animals in Vietnam.
There is no evidence of person-to-person spread so far. But if that happens, an epidemic could break out, scientists have warned.
Earlier in November, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requested that farm workers exposed to animals with bird flu be tested for the virus even if they do not have symptoms.
Bird flu has infected nearly 450 dairy farms in 15 US states since March, and the CDC has identified 46 cases of bird flu since April.
In Canada, British Columbia has identified at least 22 chicken farms infected with the virus since October, and many wild birds were found to be infected, according to the province.
Canada has had no reported cases in dairy cattle and no evidence of bird flu in milk samples.
In the decades since H5 was discovered in humans, there have been rare cases where the animal source could not be identified.
