Health officials have confirmed Canada’s first human case of avian influenza.
The case involves a teenager within the Fraser Health health authority area of British Columbia who has tested positive for the H5 strain of the virus.
The patient was receiving care at British Columbia Children’s Hospital over the weekend while public health authorities began an investigation to determine the source of exposure and identify potential contacts.
“This is a rare event,” Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, said in a statement. “While it is the first detected case of H5 in a person in British Columbia or in Canada, there have been a small number of human cases in the U.S. and elsewhere.”
The initial positive test was performed at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) Public Health Laboratory, with samples now being sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for confirmatory testing.