OTTAWA, ON – Health officials on Wednesday confirmed bird flu in a British Columbia teen and said the virus was related to a poultry outbreak in the province.
Initial testing had indicated the teenager’s infection was from bird flu and was confirmed in further testing, the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement.
The teen has been hospitalized in Vancouver since Friday and was reported in critical condition on Tuesday.
It’s not clear how the teenager picked up the virus, which has been detected recently in wild birds and poultry in the province, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said Tuesday. The teen is not known to have any contact with infected animals, she said.
Henry said the teen was healthy before developing symptoms more than a week ago — initially eye redness, cough and fever.
H5N1 bird flu has beem spreading widely in the U.S. among wild birds, poultry, cows and a number of other animals. This year, 46 people in the U.S. — mostly farmworkers — have tested positive with mostly mild symptoms.
In Canada, about three dozen people who had been in contact with the teen were tested. None had evidence of infection, Henry said.
Officials are trying to figure out how the teen was infected, although Henry said that may never be determined. In British Columbia, the virus has been detected in poultry, wild birds and some small animals. Bird flu has not been found in dairy cows in the province.
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