First human H5N1 case reported in Canada

Originally published on January 9, 2014

Canada reported first H5N1 bird flu infection in North America on Wednesday (January 8). The patient was a resident of Alberta who had returned after spending a month in China.

The unidentified patient was reportedly feeling sick while flying from Beijing to Vancouver and continuing on to Edmonton on December 27. The patient was hospitalised on January 1 and died on January 3.

Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose said in a news conference on Wednesday that the recent H5N1 patient was likely an isolated case.

"The risk of getting H5N1 is very low," Ambrose said in a Canada Star report. "This case is not part of the seasonal flu, which circulates in Canada every year."

"I'm surprised we haven't seen at least one importation before now into North America ... given the connectedness that we have with that region," said Danuta Skowronski, an influenza expert at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.

The H5N1 virus is a highly pathogenic avian flu virus that spreads widely among birds but rarely infects humans. Most human cases have been reported in people who had contact with sick or dead poultry infected with the virus.

Symptoms of infection include fever, diarrhea, coughing, shortness of breath and acute respiratory distress. Unlike many other flus, H5N1 is not readily transmitted between humans.

Since 2003 the World Health Organization has reported more than 600 human cases of H5N1 infection in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Around 60 percent of those infected have have died.

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