Carolyn Law didn't think much of it when a snow goose landed in her Richmond, B.C., backyard, on Halloween.
But hours later it had barely moved. Then it started bobbing its head repeatedly. About eight hours after she first saw the bird, it rolled over, began convulsing and died.
"It was quite a sad thing to see, actually — really frightening," Law said. Law said she called a wildlife rescue group and was told the symptoms suggested avian flu rather than a physical injury, but without testing it couldn't be confirmed. Encounters like Law's are under new scrutiny after a B.
C. teenager tested positive for bird flu in the first presumptive case of human infection occurring in Canada. The patient is in critical condition.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a news conference on Tuesday that the source of infection wasn't clear. Experts and health authorities say that while the risk of human infection with the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza remains low, people should avoid contact with sick or dead birds.
"People who work with animals or in environments contaminated by animals should take precautions, including using other personal protective measures to reduce the risk of getting or spreading respiratory infectious diseases," Health Canada said in a statement. Concerns around bird flu have heightened in recent years, with the virus resulting in millions of poultry across North America being culled. Infections among commercial flocks have jumped to more than 2.