Teen Hospitalized With Canada’s First Human Case Of Bird Flu

The WHO and CDC say there is still no evidence of human-to-human transmission

13th November 2024

3 Minutes Read

A teenager is in critical condition in a British Columbia children’s hospital with what health officials say is likely Canada’s first human case of H5 bird flu.

While the strain is yet to be identified, provincial health officer and epidemiologist Bonnie Henry has said that she assumes the case is H5N1 bird flu, per Reuters.

The young person’s symptoms included conjunctivitis, fever, and coughing. As of Tuesday, they were hospitalized with acute respiratory distress syndrome – a serious lung condition that is caused by inflammation and results in low blood oxygen.

“This was a healthy teenager prior to this, so no underlying conditions,” said Henry earlier this week. “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.”

North America’s H5N1 outbreak

Photo shows a row of cows leaning out from metal pens to eat hay off the ground, while one looks into the camera — Adobe Stock The transmission of bird flu from birds to cows represents a significant jump for the virus

There is an ongoing, multistate outbreak of H5N1 in North America. While there is still no evidence of human-to-human transition, there have now been at least 44 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the US since April 2024, though the actual number is likely higher.

The vast majority of reported human cases so far have been agricultural workers, and in addition to around 22.37 million poultry birds, the virus has now affected 440 dairy farms in 15 states. H5N1 has notably also been found in domestic animals such as cats.

While the hospitalized teenager has had no exposure to farms or farmed animals, they have been in contact with reptiles, dogs, and cats. British Columbia officials have tested 36 contacts of the young person but have not yet found anyone else with the H5N1 virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintain that H5N1’s risk to humans is low because there is currently no evidence of human transmission. If that were to happen, another pandemic is possible.