A British Columbia teen has become the first person in Canada to test positive for bird flu, authorities announced Saturday.
The person is being treated at the state health department’s children’s hospital for H5 avian influenza. said.
The source of infection and possible contacts are under investigation.
Officials said the infection likely came from a bird or animal.
“This is a rare event,” says Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer. said.
“We are conducting a thorough investigation to fully understand the source of the exposure here in British Columbia.”
Avian influenza is most commonly found in wild birds and poultry, but it has recently been detected in mammals as well, with outbreaks in cattle across the United States this year.
It can be transmitted to humans through close contact or contaminated environments.
Scientists have expressed concern about the growing number of mammals becoming infected with bird flu, even if cases of human infection remain rare.
They worry that high infection rates could encourage the virus to mutate and spread from person to person.
In September, officials announced that a Missourian became the first person in the United States to test positive for bird flu despite no known contact with infected animals.
All previous bird flu cases in the United States have occurred among farmworkers, including the first in 2022.
For decades after H5 was discovered in humans, in rare cases the animal source of infection could not be determined.
However, so far no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission has been found that would significantly increase the threat level.
© Agence France-Presse
