Canada has confirmed its first presumptive case of H5 bird flu in a person, with health officials reporting that a teenager in the western province of British Columbia is likely the source. The teenager is believed to have contracted the virus from exposure to a bird or animal and is currently receiving care at a children’s hospital.
The province is investigating the source of the exposure and is working to identify individuals who may have had contact with the affected teen. However, health authorities have emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low.
“This is a rare event,” said British Columbia’s Health Officer, Bonnie Henry. “We are conducting a thorough investigation to fully understand the source of exposure here in B.C.”
Health Minister Mark Holland also reassured the public on social media, noting that the overall threat to public health remains minimal. “The risk to the public remains low,” he said in a post on X.
H5 bird flu has been causing widespread outbreaks in wild birds globally and has also been detected in poultry and U.S. dairy cows. Several human cases have been reported in U.S. farm workers who were exposed to infected animals. However, there has been no evidence of person-to-person transmission to date, although scientists warn that if such transmission occurs, a pandemic could follow.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently advised farm workers exposed to animals with bird flu to undergo testing, even if they are asymptomatic. Bird flu has infected nearly 450 dairy farms across 15 U.S. states since March, with 46 confirmed human cases in U.S. farm workers since April.
In Canada, at least 22 infected poultry farms have been identified in British Columbia since October, and numerous wild birds have tested positive for the virus. There have been no reports of bird flu in Canadian dairy cattle or evidence of the virus in milk samples.
Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely as investigations continue into the source of the infection.
