Canada has reported its first-ever human avian influenza (bird flu) case after a teenager tested positive after getting hospitalized.
Over the weekend, British Columbia released a statement in which the province reported that a teenager has presumably caught the H5 avian flu from a bird or animal as he undergoes treatment at a children’s hospital.
The test is currently under investigation at Canada's National Microbiology Lab, and if they confirm then it will be the first officially recorded case in the country.
“This is a rare event. We are conducting a thorough investigation to fully understand the source of exposure here in BC,” said Bonnie Henry, the Health Officer of British Columbia.
The Health Minister of Canada, Mark Holland, also shared a confirmatory post on X, noting, "To date, there has been no evidence of person-to-person spread of the virus in any of the cases identified globally. Based on current evidence in Canada, the risk to the general public remains low."
He also assured public by stating that the Public Agency of Canada is working closely with the British Columbia Center of Disease Control and Office of the provincial Health Officer to ensure safety of the citizens.
Meanwhile, the director of AI and life sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, Sam Scarpino, called the infection “concerning,” citing two reasons.
He regarded the hospitalization of the teenager as the first concerning reason as it hints towards a more severe infection as compared to the ones reported in the neighboring country US, as it is uncommon for teenagers to be hospitalized for an influenza infection.
As for the second reason, Scarpino noted, “This also represents the first known locally acquired H5N1 infection in Canadian history.”
"Reading between the lines in the official press release from British Columbia, it sounds as though they have reason to suspect the hospitalized individual may have had recent contact with livestock and/or wildlife, suggesting they were infected via spillover from an animal host," he said.
The director also expressed concern that if it is found that the case is a humanly transmitted one rather than from a bird, it would raise threat level considerably.
