A Canadian teenager in critical condition with a suspected case of bird flu

A Canadian girl has been admitted to hospital in what is believed to be a critical condition bird fluBritish Columbia’s health official said Tuesday.

It is not yet clear how the teenager picked up the virus, which was recently found in wild birds and chickens in the province, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer. The girl is not known to have contact with infected animals, he said.

Officials released few details about the patient. Henry said the teenager was in good health before developing symptoms more than a week ago — starting with red eyes, a cough and a fever — and has been hospitalized with a respiratory illness since Friday in Vancouver.

Initial tests showed that the infection was caused by bird flu. Officials believe it is Type A H5N1 bird flu, but are awaiting confirmation. H5N1 has been circulating widely in the US among wild birds, poultry, cattle and a number of other animals.

In Canada, tests were conducted on approximately thirty-two people who had contact with the youth. None of them have evidence of infection, Henry said.

Officials are trying to determine how the boy became infected, though Henry says that may never be determined. In British Columbia, the virus has been found in chickens, wild birds and other small animals, especially when the birds migrate through the area.

The Canadian case was in the Fraser Valley area of ​​southern British Columbia.

So far this year, at least 46 people in the US – most of them farm workers – have tested positive for milder symptoms.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 of those patients were in California, 11 in Washington, 10 in Colorado, two in Michigan and one each in Missouri and Texas.

The source of the disease was traced to cattle or poultry in all but one US case. Source in one Missouri case is unknown, the CDC said.