Human bird flu has hospitalized a Canadian teenager at the British Columbia Children’s Hospital. He is the first person in Canada to test positive for the bird flu virus.
The BC teen likely contracted the virus through exposure to a bird or animal. BC Health said the infection is a rare event. Canadian health officials are trying to determine how youth were exposed to the virus. He was probably exposed to an infected bird or animal.
Canada has reported 23 infected poultry farms since October. No contaminated cattle or milk was found.
The Canadian teen is being treated for H5 bird flu at BC Children’s Hospital, according to provincial health officials
Health Canada is investigating the source of infection and any contacts. It said: “We are conducting a thorough investigation to fully understand the source of the exposure here in BC.”
46 cases of human bird flu have been reported in six states south of the border in the United States. Exposure to livestock is blamed for 25 of the cases in the US, while exposure to poultry is responsible for 20 cases. The cause of one case of human influenza has not yet been determined.
Bird flu was first found in wild birds and poultry, but in recent months it has also been found in mammals. The outbreak in cattle has been occurring in the United States since March last year.
Occasional human infections have occurred through close contact or contaminated environments. Scientists have expressed concern about the growing number of mammals becoming infected with bird flu, even as human cases remain rare.
There are fears that a high transmission rate could follow the mutation of the virus, leading to transmission to humans.
The only case of unknown exposure occurred in Missouri, where a positive test for bird flu was obtained without any known exposure to infected animals.
All previous cases of human bird flu in the United States were linked to exposure to poultry or livestock.
However, there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, which would significantly increase the threat level.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks animal detections on a weekly basis as follows:
- 10,528 wild birds detected on November 5
- 51 jurisdictions with avian influenza in wild birds
- As of November 8, 105,197,601 poultry had been affected
- 48 states with poultry outbreaks
- As of November 8, 473 dairy herds had been affected
- 15 states with dairy cow outbreaks
Sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)