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Bird flu in Canada may have mutated to become more transmissible to humans
Scientists are racing to understand what a hospitalized teen’s case of bird flu may mean for future outbreaks
Preliminary sequencing of the H5N1 variant sickening the teenager showed a potential mutation on the genomic spot known to make people more susceptible to the virus. “Often it’s not just one thing that is going to confer that ability” to infect humans more effectively, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan. Though there have been outbreaks of H5N1 among poultry in British Columbia, the teen did not have exposure to them – but he or she did have contact with several pets, including dogs, cats and reptiles.
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