Risk low, but patient in B.C.’s first presumptive case of avian flu in ‘critical condition’: Dr. Bonnie Henry

B.C.’s provincial health officer says the province is investigating sources after the first presumptive case of avian influenza in Canada, the H5 virus, was detected in the province over the weekend.

Authorities shared on Saturday that a teenager in the Fraser Health region had tested positive for the virus, otherwise known as bird flu.

Speaking before noon on Tuesday, Dr. Bonnie Henry says the teenager is in critical condition, but it would be difficult for many more to contract the virus.

“We don’t see right now that there’s a risk of a lot of people being sick,” said Henry. “We’ve done a lot of contact tracing over the past few days and have not identified any additional cases.”

She says the patient was admitted to BC Children’s Hospital on Friday and their condition was “varied” over the weekend.

Henry explained that the BC CDC tested a “presumptive positive” sample of the H5-N1 virus but will need to have the results confirmed by the national microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg.

“Since the COVID [19] pandemic, we’ve seen the value of being able to sequence the entire genome to understand what exactly this virus is. So that can be done here at our BC CDC lab, but takes some time to get those samples done, and we hope to have those results later, maybe as early as late this week,” said Henry, adding that the province has also been testing the wastewater to help determine if the virus is coming from humans, birds, or other animals.

Henry notes there is no link between to the two-dozen poultry farms that suffered from avian flu outbreaks during the fall migration of wild birds.
She adds the teen also did not live near or on a farm and there are no other human case of H5-N1 detected in the province thus far.

“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 exposure here in B.C.,” said Henry on Saturday.

The provincial said then it was following up with contacts who may have been exposed in order to check for symptoms and develop testing and prevention measures.

Avian flu has been detected across farms in B.C., with the latest case found at a petting farm in Campbell River where over 50 animals were killed after catching the virus.

Henry says the current case of the virus is the first known Canadian case in years.

“We have only had one other human case identified here in Canada. It was a person in 2014  — an Alberta resident. But they had acquired it very likely, when they were travelling in China.”

She says in the U.S. this year, there have been 46 confirmed human cases, but almost all were dairy workers. Henry explained that milk, particularly unpasteurized milk, can be a mode of transmission.

Henry says she’s concerned about the possibility of RNA material mixing among multiple influenza viruses.

“There was identification of this H5-N1 virus in a pig in Oregon very recently. And why that is concerning to us is that pigs can get infected with bird viruses, with human viruses, and other influenza viruses that can affect other species. And if they are infected with more than one type of virus at the same time, they can swap some of their genetic genetic material, and that means that they can come up with a new virus that might transmit more easily between humans. And that’s the worry about a potential transmission or starting of the next pandemic,” she explained.

People are advised to stay up to date on the seasonal flu vaccine, stay away from animal droppings, and keep pets away from dead animals.

More to come.

—With files from Emma Crawford.