A suspected human bird flu case has led to the hospitalization of a teenage patient in Canada.

A presumed human case of avian influenza (H5N1) has been reported in Canada.

X confirmed the report as per Canada's Health Minister Mark Holland.

No evidence of person-to-person spread of the virus has been found in any of the cases identified worldwide, he stated.

"According to current evidence in Canada, the general public's risk remains low."

The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with the BC (British Columbia) Centre of Disease Control and Office of the Provincial Health Officer to safeguard Canadians.

A teenager from British Columbia is currently receiving treatment at BC Children's Hospital, as stated in a press release from the BC government.

The province announced that a public-health investigation has been launched to ascertain the source of exposure and trace any contacts.

"B.C.’s chief veterinarian and public health teams are currently investigating the source of exposure, which is believed to be an animal or bird."

Two reasons make the potential H5N1 infection in Canada concerning for Sam Scarpino, PhD, director of AI and life sciences at Northeastern University in Boston.

The individual's hospitalization implies a more severe infection than typical in the U.S., as stated by the individual to Planet Chronicle Digital.

"It's rare for teenagers to be hospitalized for influenza if they don't have pre-existing health conditions."

In Canadian history, this is the first known locally acquired H5N1 infection.

The official press release from British Columbia suggests that the hospitalized individual may have had recent contact with livestock and/or wildlife, indicating that they were infected via spillover from an animal host.

"If evidence of human-to-human transmission is discovered, the threat level would be significantly increased."

Scarpino stated that H5N1 has become a persistent threat in North America, regardless of how it was acquired.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of Nov. 8, there were 46 confirmed reported human cases of bird flu in the U.S.

The majority of U.S. cases have occurred in California, Washington, and Colorado.

A CDC study found that 7% of farm workers who were exposed to H5N1-infected dairy cattle had bird flu antibodies.

This suggests that they were previously infected with the virus.

The CDC recommends "continuous surveillance of affected workers and screening to identify and treat HPAI A(H5) infections, even in individuals with mild symptoms."

"We can’t afford to keep letting this virus spill over into humans."

The agency advises increasing the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for farm workers.

Scarpino stated on Planet Chronicle Digital that it is evident that we require more extensive and organized serosurveillance efforts, as well as combining the findings of those studies with clinical and wastewater surveillance data.

"Dairy farm workers should receive H5N1 vaccines and have access to appropriate personal protective equipment."

Scarpino stated, "It's crucial that we prevent the virus from spreading to humans any further."

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"It's inevitable that someone will die unnecessarily and/or we'll witness human-to-human transmission."

Planet Chronicle Digital reached out to Canada Health for comment.