The teenager who contracted Canada’s first-ever human case of avian influenza is in hospital in critical condition, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the person and their family in this most difficult time,” she said in an update on the situation.
Henry said officials in B.C. are still waiting on confirmation from a national laboratory, but the assumption is the virus is H5N1, as that strain has been spreading in wild birds and poultry in North America.
About three dozen people who were in contact with the infected young person have been tested for avian influenza and given an antiviral medication to prevent symptoms should they be infected, but Henry said no other cases have been identified so far.
Henry said public health is currently trying to figure out where the teenager was exposed, adding they’re following up on a number of leads, but it doesn’t appear the infection happened on a poultry farm.
As of Tuesday, 26 facilities in B.C. are currently infected with avian influenza, mostly in the Fraser Valley.
This is a developing story and will be updated.