The Public Well being Company of Canada (PHAC) at the moment introduced that the Nationwide Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg has confirmed that the H5 avian flu detected in a British Columbia (BC) teen is the H5N1 virus.
Yesterday BC well being officers mentioned the beforehand wholesome teen is hospitalized in vital situation. As we speak’s affirmation marks Canada’s first domestically acquired H5N1 an infection.
Genetic sequencing means that the H5N1 virus is intently associated to these circulating in BC poultry, that means that it belongs to the two.3.4.4b clade and to the D.1.1 genotype. Western Canada and a handful of western US states have seen an uptick in poultry outbreaks associated to unfold of the virus from birds migrating south alongside the Pacific flyway. The genotype is totally different from the B3.13 virus that has contaminated US dairy cattle.
To this point, no different human infections have been detected in Canada, and investigations are nonetheless below approach to decide how the teenager was uncovered to the virus.
Theresa Tam, MBBS, Canada’s chief public well being officer, mentioned, well being officers’ ideas are with the affected person, the household, and hospital caregivers. “This detection was picked up by way of hospital-based influenza surveillance, confirming that human influenza surveillance in British Columbia and Canada is efficient at detecting avian influenza A(H5). We should proceed to stay vigilant in our efforts to stop the unfold of avian influenza between animals and to people.”
Virus hits extra US poultry farms
In different H5N1 developments, the US Division of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed 5 extra H5N1 outbreaks on poultry farms, together with an enormous layer farm in California’s Kern County that has greater than 2 million birds.
Two different outbreaks in California contain a big broiler facility in Fresno County that homes 237,000 birds and a turkey breeder farm in the identical county that has practically 37,000 birds.
Additionally, APHIS confirmed the virus at a poultry farm in Montana’s Missoula County, in addition to on a turkey farm in Utah’s Piute County.
