Canadians need not worry about the first suspected human case of bird flu contracted in the country, Health Canada says.
The federal department issued a statement Sunday in response to an announcement the day before from British Columbia’s Ministry of Health that a teenager had tested positive for avian influenza, also called bird flu. The revelation prompted public health officials to look into the case to find the source of the exposure and identify contacts.
“Based on current evidence in Canada, the risk to the general public remains low at this time,” said the statement from Health Canada spokesperson Mark Johnson.
“To date, there has been no evidence of sustained person-to-person spread of the virus in any of the cases identified globally.”
Human infection with avian influenza, caused by the H5 virus, is rare and usually occurs after close contact with infected birds or highly contaminated environments, the Health Canada statement says.
It also said samples from the B.C. case are being sent to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s national microbiology lab in Winnipeg for testing.
British Columbia’s announcement Saturday said a teenager in the region covered by Fraser Health, east of Vancouver, tested positive for bird flu, and that the individual is currently being treated in hospital in Vancouver.
The province’s Ministry of Health said in a statement that a positive test was done by the BC Centre for Disease Control, and that the teen’s exposure to the virus is very likely to be from an animal or bird.
“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 the exposure here in B.C.,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s health officer, in the statement.
The federal statement says that, as a general precaution to prevent avian influenza infections, members of the public should not handle live or dead wild birds and should keep pets away from sick or dead animals.
Also, people who work with animals or in environments contaminated by them should take precautions such as using personal, protective measures, the statement says.