Source: Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE, 1/10/14


A resident of Alberta, Canada who recently returned from China has died of H5N1 or avian influenza, authorities said, calling this the "first and only" confirmed human case of the disease in North America.

Rona Ambrose, Canada's Minister of Health, confirmed the case in a briefing in Ottawa on Thursday.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Gregory Taylor said the risk of transmission is very low, with no evidence of what he termed “sustained human-to-human transmission,” in prepared notes for the briefing. He noted that the 650 human cases of H5N1 in 15 countries over the last decade have primarily been in people who were exposed to birds infected with the virus. The deceased patient's family is not showing signs of illness, Taylor said, and there is no evidence for human-to-human transmission on airplanes.

The patient began to feel ill while travelling back from Beijing on Dec. 27 and died Jan. 3. The National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg analyzed specimens Wednesday and confirmed the patient suffered from H5N1.

Authorities in Shanghai recently decided to suspend sales of live poultry between Jan. 31 and April 30. Sales will be banned periodically over the next five years in an attempt to stem avian flu.

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