Canada Detects First Case Of Bird Flu In Human

The New York Times (11/13, Isai) reports that “a teenager was hospitalized and in critical condition after contracting bird flu, in what Canadian officials said on Tuesday was the country’s first known case of the virus being transmitted to a human.” British Columbian health officials “were investigating how the teenager came down with the disease despite having no known links to poultry farms.” Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s health officer, said “about 36 people who came into contact with the young person in Canada have tested negative for the virus and were offered a preventative course of antiviral medication.” Henry said, “There is a very real possibility that we may not ever determine the source, but at this point, we have a number of leads that we’re following. We will be tracking down everyone because this is such a rare event.”