First North American H5N1 bird flu death recorded in Canada's Alberta province

Updated 1 hour 7 minutes ago


PHOTO: The virus is contracted directly from birds, mainly poultry. (Reuters/China Photo)
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MAP: Canada

The first person to die of the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus in North America had just returned from China, Canadian authorities have confirmed.

Officials said the victim, whose gender and other details were withheld to protect the family's privacy, had recently returned from a trip to Beijing.

He or she died in Canada's western plains province of Alberta.
Canada's health minister Rona Ambrose said it was the first known instance of someone in North America contracting the virus and stressed it was an "isolated case".

"I want to reassure the public this is an isolated case and the risk of H5N1 to Canadians is very low," Ms Ambrose said.

"There is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission."

The virus is contracted directly from birds, mainly poultry. The illness it causes in humans is severe, and 60 per cent of human cases are fatal.

The victim began to feel ill during a December 27 flight home to Alberta province, developing a fever and headache.

The person was admitted to hospital on January 1, when the symptoms worsened suddenly, and the patient began falling in and out of consciousness. He or she died two days later.

The federal microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has identified the H5N1 virus from a specimen taken while the victim was still alive.

Doctors say the person, who travelled with two companions who are not sick but will be kept under observation as a precaution for 10 days - double the usual time it takes for the virus to manifest itself - was otherwise completely healthy.

Extremely low chance of contagion

"The patient's family is not showing any sign of illness," Alberta's chief medical officer James Talbot said.

"There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission on airplanes. All evidence indicates this is one isolated case in an individual who is infected following exposure in China. Although we don't know at this time how the individual contracted the virus."

Mr Talbot said the deceased had not travelled outside Beijing to the regions of China, and had not visited a farm, nor a public market.
Canadian officials have notified China and the World Health Organisation, but they are at a loss to explain where or how the person contracted the virus.

Authorities have also secured a passenger list and will be contacting others on the same flight of the victim to reassure them of the "extremely low" chance of contagion.

The victim flew from Beijing to Vancouver on Air Canada flight 030 on December 27, then went on to Edmonton, Alberta aboard Air Canada flight 244.

The person's final destination was not revealed but he or she was treated at an Edmonton hospital.

AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-0...merica/5192198