Canada has just reported its first case of human bird flu. A teenager in British Columbia has been hospitalized with a “presumed” case of H5N1 bird flu. This is the first case in the country stemming from the most recent outbreak.

While the media is reporting this a confirmed case, notice the language also used is a “presumed” case of bird flu. That could be intentionally misleading the public as to the severity one way or the other of the human risk. In this case, it is assumed that the individual contracted the virus also known as avian influenza from an exposure to wild birds, and testing is “ongoing” to “confirm” this theory.

It is interesting that exposure could be confirmed with a test, but we all remember how accurate diagnostic tests have been in the past.

“Our thoughts are with this young person and their family during this difficult time,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer in a news release. “This is a rare event, and while it is the first detected case of H5 in a person in B.C. or in Canada, there have been a small number of human cases in the U.S. and elsewhere, which is why we are conducting a thorough investigation to fully understand the source of exposure here in B.C,” said Henry.

All close contacts of the infected individual are being contacted and investigations are underway to figure out how the teenager was infected. Canada has been testing wild birds, finding strains of the virus similar to those circulating in both parts of the U.S. and Japan, but this is the first time the virus has been found in a human. The case represents only Canada’s second-ever detected case of H5N1 after a traveler returning from China in 2014 died from the disease. –Forbes

Since March 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture has confirmed bird flu outbreaks in 440 dairy cattle herds across 15 states.  The virus has also been detected in 45 commercial poultry flocks and 30 backyard flocks. Canada has been testing milk and livestock, but unlike in the U.S., there have been no confirmed cases of the same strain of the H5N1 virus from the U.S. in either cattle or poultry farms in Canada.

The outbreak is ongoing in the U.S.

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