Canada confirms first human case of H5N1 avian flu on its territory

Journalist at the Society department

Published on 11/17/2024 at 7:23 p.m.
Reading time: 2 min

Lhe first human case of H5N1 avian flu contracted in Canada was confirmed last Wednesday by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). It concerns a teenager hospitalized since last week at the Children’s Hospital in Vancouver (British Columbia), who is in critical condition. The investigation has not yet revealed how he became infected, but according to the province’s chief medical officer of health, cited by -, the teenager did not travel or be in contact with farms, and was in good health before his infection.

No other case of avian flu has been identified to date in a human in Canada, the PHAC further specifies. In the neighboring United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently lists 46 confirmed cases of avian flu in people, of which just under half (twenty) were exposed to infected poultry and 25 to infected livestock.

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