Canada’s first locally acquired human case of avian flu (H5N1) has been confirmed.

The type of avian influenza virus, a.k.a bird flu that is currently making the headlines is H5N1, but other types exist (e.g. H5N6, H3N8, H7N4, H9N2, H10N3) (1,8,25).

H5N1 bird flu has infected over 12 million birds in Canada since 2021 (20,24). Earlier this year the first widespread outbreak of bird flu in cows was detected in the U.S. and is still going on (9). 

In rare isolated cases, H5N1 can also infect other mammals such as cats, dogs, otters, foxes, badgers, coyotes, lynx, polar bears, raccoons, opossums, through the consumption of sick or dead birds (2). 

Although rare, transmission to humans can happen mainly through direct contact with infected birds. The first confirmed human case from contact with another infected mammal (i.e. cows) in the U.S. raised some concerns among experts back in spring of this year (10). Since then, human cases in the U.S. have increased to over 50 – prior to 2024, the U.S. only had one confirmed human case of H5N1 from 2022 (11,12,27). 

Earlier this month, Canada’s first human case of 2024 was confirmed in a teen living in B.C. It is unclear how the Canadian teen was exposed to the virus, but the strain seems to be related to the one currently circulating in B.C. ‘s poultry (26,28,29,31).

Still experts agree that the risk for the general population remains low (28). However, it is best to avoid any contact with dead or sick looking birds and if possible to report them here (24). 

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