To the Editor : Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses are circulating among wild birds and poultry in British Columbia, Canada .1 These viruses are also recognized to cause illness in humans . Here, we report a case of critical illness caused by influenza A(H5N1) virus infection in British Columbia. On November 4, 2024, a 13-year-old girl with a history of mild asthma and an elevated body-mass index (the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) of greater than 35 presented to an emergency department in British Columbia with a 2-day history of conjunctivitis in both eyes and a 1-day history of fever . She was discharged home without treatment, but cough, vomiting, and diarrhea then developed, and she returned to the emergency department on November 7 in respiratory distress with hemodynamic instability. On November 8, she was transferred, while receiving bilevel positive airway pressure, to the pediatric intensive care unit at British Columbia Child...
Media Monitoring for Signals about Emerging Threats