Teen in critical condition with Canada’s first presumptive human case of bird flu
Officials are trying to figure out how the teen – who had no farm exposure – was infected
A teenager is in critical condition in a British Columbia children’s hospital, sick with Canada’s first presumptive human case of avian influenza.
“This was a healthy teenager prior to this, so no underlying conditions,” said provincial health officer Bonnie Henry in a news conference on Tuesday.
“It just reminds us that in young people this is a virus that can progress and cause quite severe illness and the deterioration that I mentioned was quite rapid.”
British Columbia health officials said on Saturday the province had detected Canada’s first human case of H5 bird flu in a teenager.
Henry said the province is still identifying the exact strain, but assumes the case is H5N1.
The World Health Organization says H5N1’s risk to humans is low because there is no evidence of human transmission, but the virus has been found in an increasing number of animals including cattle in the United States.
Henry would not disclose the teen’s gender or age but said they had first developed symptoms on November 2 and were tested on November 8, when they were admitted to hospital. Symptoms included conjunctivitis, fever and coughing.
