A teenager has been left in critical condition after contracting the first presumptive human case of avian influenza (H5N1, or bird flu) in Canada.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the patient’s status at a news conference Tuesday, noting that the teen was healthy “prior to this, so no underlying conditions.”
“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,” she said.
FIRST CASE OF HUMAN BIRD FLU DIAGNOSED WITHOUT EXPOSURE TO INFECTED ANIMALS, CDC SAYS
Canada’s Health Minister Mark Holland confirmed the first human case in a post on X last week.
“To date, there has been no evidence of person-to-person spread of the virus in any of the cases identified globally,” he wrote. “Based on current evidence in Canada, the risk to the general public remains low.”
Holland also noted that the Public Health Agency of Canada is working with …