Bird Flu Puts Teen In Critical Condition As Canada Reports First Human Case: What You Need To Know

A teenager in British Columbia is in critical condition after contracting what is believed to be Canada's first human case of the bird flu.

The teen, previously healthy with no underlying conditions, has rapidly deteriorated due to avian influenza, health officials announced this week.

Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry revealed in a Tuesday video that the teenager was previously healthy with “no underlying conditions.”

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The virus can progress and “cause quite severe illness” and rapid deterioration, Henry said, adding that the the virus doesn’t spread easily between people.

In Canada, British Columbia alone has confirmed that there have been flu outbreaks at 26 premises. Numerous wild birds tested positive.

Canada has reported no cases in dairy cattle or evidence of the virus in milk samples.

The investigation is ongoing. Officials are urging the public to stay vigilant as cases rise among both domestic and wild animals.

The British Columbia teenager first showed symptoms on Nov. 2, including conjunctivitis, fever and coughing. The patient was hospitalized on Nov. 8 and is in intensive care with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

‘I Don't Want To Have Us Go Backward’

In the U.S., the spread of bird flu is growing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied 46 confirmed human cases this year. Almost all of them are in dairy workers.

About 450 dairy farms across 15 U.S. states since March have reported cases.

The virus grabbed headlines last month when the U.S. Department of Agriculture said a pig at an Oregon farm contracted the bird flu.

“That is concerning to us,” said Canadian health official Henry. Pigs can become infected with bird and human viruses, which can change their genetic material and create a new virus that might transmit more easily between humans, she said.

Such instances can very well lead to the “starting of the next pandemic,” she added.

The situation is particularly alarming to the CDC considering the way President-elect Donald Trump handled the COVID-19 outbreak during his first term. Trump has promised to allow Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a proud vaccine skeptic — to “go wild on health.”

CDC Director Mandy Cohen seemed to be apprehensive about whether the U.S. is going “backward” in comments made Wednesday at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit in Washington, per Bloomberg.

"We have a very short memory of what it is like to hold a child who has been paralyzed with polio, or to comfort a mom who lost their kid from measles," Cohen said. "I don't want to have to see us go backward in order to remind ourselves that vaccines work.”

Which Companies Are Preparing Bird Flu Vaccines?

Pfizer PFE and Moderna MRNA are continuing efforts to develop an mRNA bird flu vaccine — the same technology used in the companies’ respective COVID-19 vaccines.

Federal health officials announced last month that $72 million in funding will go toward vaccine development, according to ABC News.

Price Action: Pfizer is trading at $26.36 per share, up 0.65% at last check Wednesday. Moderna is trading at $42.46 per share, down 2.32%.

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