Canada confirms first domestically acquired human case of H5N1 bird flu

Ottawa, Nov 14 (IANS) The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed the first domestically acquired human case of H5N1 avian influenza in Canada.

A teenager in British Columbia was hospitalised and tested presumptive positive for H5 avian influenza on November 9, and was later confirmed to have been infected with the H5N1 virus on Wednesday, PHAC said in a statement.

The genomic sequencing result indicated that the virus is related to the avian influenza H5N1 virus from the ongoing outbreak in poultry in British Columbia, said PHAC, adding that no other human infections have been detected so far, and investigation is underway to determine how the individual got infected.

While there is an ongoing H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle in the United States, no cases of avian influenza have been reported in dairy cattle in Canada, and there has been no evidence of bird flu virus in milk samples, reports Xinhua news agency.

Furthermore, the clade of H5N1 virus detected in dairy cattle in the United States differed from that found in the human case reported in British Columbia, PHAC said.

Based on current evidence, the risk of avian influenza infection for the public remains low. The risk of bird flu infection is higher for those who have unprotected exposure to infected animals, PHAC said.

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