A teenager is in critical condition in a British Columbia children’s hospital with what appears to be Canada’s first human case of bird flu, after being admitted with fever, coughing and conjunctivitis before testing.
“This was previously a healthy teenager, so no underlying conditions,” said a provincial health officer, Bonnie Henry – who added that while the province was still identifying the exact strain, it was assumed the case was H5N1.
Although the World Health Organisation says H5N1’s risk to humans is low because there is no evidence of human transmission, the virus has been found in an increasing number of animals, including cattle in the United States, The Guardian reports.
Henry said the patient had first developed symptoms on 2 November and was tested on 8 November, on admission to the hospital.
Currently, the patient has acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The teen had no farm exposure but had been exposed to dogs, cats and reptiles, Henry added, and no infection source had been identified.
She said more severe illness takes place when the virus binds to receptors deep in the lungs.
Bird flu has infected nearly 450 dairy farms in 15 US states since March, and the CDC has identified 46 human cases of bird flu since April.
In Canada, British Columbia has identified at least 26 affected premises across the province, Henry said, and numerous wild birds have tested positive. The country has had no cases reported in dairy cattle and no evidence of bird flu in milk samples.
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Bird flu case raises first suggestion of human transmission
Bird flu hits third US farmworker but symptoms differ