Canadian health minister Rona Ambrose has confirmed the first fatality of the H5N1 virus in North America.
Speaking in a press conference, the minister said, "I am here to confirm North America's first human case of H5N1, also known as avian flu."
Health officials reported that the patient began feeling unwell while on a flight going to Canada from Beijing on December 27. However, it is not yet known how exactly the patient contracted the virus. Shortly after, the patient, suffering from fever and headache, was admitted to a hospital where he passed away on January 3. Identifying traits of the victim including gender were kept private to protect the privacy of the family.
According to the country's health minister, this H5N1 occurrence is an isolated case and the public has no reason to worry about an outbreak of the disease.
Currently, there is no evidence to speculate that there is anybody else infected by the virus. Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. James Talbot stated that the victim's family members are being examined but there is no indication that any of them is sick.
"This is not a disease that's transmitted between humans so unless you were in the infected in the area and were in contact with an infected bird you are not going to get this illness,'' Dr.Theresa Tam from Health Canada told news. com.au.
The avian flu is a fatal disease caused by a virus commonly found in birds and pigs. To date, the H5N1 virus has an 83 per cent mortality rate in Indonesia. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the outbreak of the virus continues and is affecting more areas. For 2013, Cambodia has the most number of fatalities with 14 deaths. Other recorded cases are in China, Vietnam, Egypt, and Bangladesh.
