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China - H5N1 death in Alberta, Canada upon return from China trip - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

We had a case in Indonesia with neurological symptoms (Karo Cluster)(2), for example.

It seems useful to remember the case of the Pakistani cluster(1) when a family clan was infected by H5N1 and one of these people traveled back to the US with suspicious symptoms. The subjects involved (even a relative) tested negative later.

H5N1 has not Always be a poors disease: several cases in China involved wealthy people and even a PLA soldier(4) in Beijing.

So far, H5N1 has been deadly for poultry (see for example the massive die-off in Nepal this year) and elsewhere continues to be endemic (Egypt, Indonesia, Vietnam) but fell out of radar after the emergence of H7N9 and MERS.

Wild birds demonstrated a variable susceptibility to this virus, according the species and viruses' clade.

In Austria(3) during 2013 smuggled and infected birds have been collected by border authorities.

It is clear that world must not be complacent with H5N1 even though for some reasons it seems a minor candidate for a pandemic (wrongly thought, I suspect), with respect other novel reassortant like H7N9, H9N2 and the recent H1pdm09.

gm

______

(1) Pakistan Cluster of H5N1 human Cases FT thread: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46327
(2) Indonesia Sumatra's Karo Cluster of Human H5N1 cases FT Thread: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5653
(3) Austria imported smuggled H5N1 infected birds FT thread: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=501437
(4) First 2003 H5N1 human case in China, a PLA soldier, on FT archive: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-24995.html
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Laidback Al said:
Because the onset of symptoms are reported to have occurred in December 2013, this case will be counted in the year 2013 H5N1 totals by the World Health Organization.
Click to expand...

Biological said:
Reading my mind Al!
Click to expand...

The WHO has started their investigation.

H5N1 death detective work by WHO begins in Alberta case
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

There is not a doubt in my mind that the identity of this young woman is going to be leaked eventually, probably through social media. I would assume she has friends who are very upset.

Here is a bit more information from a Chinese language Canadian source:

http://info.51.ca/news/canada/2014/01/09/323362.shtml

20-year-old Chinese girl returned dye H5N1 death: doctors advise

Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose confirmed the first case of human infection in Canada appears H5N1 avian influenza cases, the deceased was a 20-year-old Alberta girl, she at December 27, 2013 from Beijing China flight back, she was already on the plane headache, fever and general weakness symptoms, January 1 hospitalized, seriously ill died two days later. But because the girl did not cough symptoms, so the chance of infecting others on the plane was very low, and the variant of H5N1 yet to easily from person to person, so the public need not panic.

[snip]
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Translation Google

Beijing reported no cases of bird flu

January 10, 2014 Source: Beijing Times

Beijing Times (Reporter Li Qiumeng) for Health Canada announced the day before yesterday, "a Canadian citizen from Beijing to fly back because of the H5N1 strain of bird flu incidence of death" issue, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said yesterday that as of last weekend, the city is no bird flu Case Report. Currently the city has entered the seasonal flu and other respiratory diseases high season, influenza activity continues to strengthen in the future, or centralized heating phenomenon will further increase.

Canada appears H5N1 deaths

Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose, the 8th confirmed that a resident of Alberta, Canada, died of H5N1 avian influenza on the 3rd death. This is the first case of H5N1 avian flu deaths in North America.

Ambrose said, the patient returned to Canada from Beijing China last year after the onset of December 27, died of his wounds. 7, released its autopsy report confirmed the H5N1 bird flu virus died. Canada, China and the World Health Organization has been notified. It is not known route of infection of the deceased.

This is North America's first case of the H5N1 bird flu deaths, but are isolated medical records, two with their close contacts have been under medical observation, there are no disease symptoms.

Beijing Not bird flu reports

Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, CDC has been established in the city of pneumonia of unknown causes at all levels of medical institutions to monitor, surveillance of influenza-like illness, the symptoms of influenza pathogen monitoring and surveillance of communicable diseases. Once suspected cases must be reported to the first time. As of last weekend, the city reported no cases of bird flu.

CDC said the city is currently flu virus was increasing, and has entered the peak season for seasonal influenza and other respiratory diseases, the recent collective center received several units and schools gathered febrile report. In the coming period, influenza activity levels will continue to enhance the city, leading to the possibility of centralized by the influenza virus fever epidemic in schools and other collective units will further increase occurred.

■ Glossary

H5N1 avian influenza

H5N1 avian influenza virus in poultry and wild birds easy to spread, but spread to humans more difficult. However, this virus is fatal, since 2003, the global total of 15 countries reported 648 individuals infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu cases, including 384 cases of death.

■ Tips

CDC to remind the public to maintain good personal hygiene and indoor environmental health; strengthen wash their hands and other good health habits; patients with influenza and other respiratory diseases should wear masks at home or away, is not recommended to go to work sick to go to school, so infect others, resulting in the spread of disease: the population concentrated in the collective unit, the high school season in respiratory disease should pay attention to strengthening health monitoring, especially to enhance ventilation and indoor environmental disinfection work in confined spaces, in order to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

zhttp://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2014-01/10/content_55018.htm
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

The above story also reported in Sina, a major media outlet in China. Apparently the Beijing Municipal Health department says there are no H5N1 cases reported.

"...the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said yesterday that as of last weekend, the city is no bird flu Case Report..."

zhttp://news.sina.com.cn/c/2014-01-10/015929201823.shtml


I did not find anything on the Beijing health department web site.
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

WHO ‏@WHO 37 min Voir la traduction
The #H5N1-confirmed case in #Canada visited Beijing, China, 6-27 December 2013 and returned to Canada on 27 December 2013

https://twitter.com/WHO
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

alert said:
There is not a doubt in my mind that the identity of this young woman is going to be leaked eventually, probably through social media. I would assume she has friends who are very upset.

Here is a bit more information from a Chinese language Canadian source:

http://info.51.ca/news/canada/2014/01/09/323362.shtml

20-year-old Chinese girl returned dye H5N1 death: doctors advise

Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose confirmed the first case of human infection in Canada appears H5N1 avian influenza cases, the deceased was a 20-year-old Alberta girl, she at December 27, 2013 from Beijing China flight back, she was already on the plane headache, fever and general weakness symptoms, January 1 hospitalized, seriously ill died two days later. But because the girl did not cough symptoms, so the chance of infecting others on the plane was very low, and the variant of H5N1 yet to easily from person to person, so the public need not panic.

[snip]
Click to expand...

Case Summary
  • Isolated to Bejing Geography
    • 2013-12-06
    • 2013-12-27
  • Health-Care Worker
    • Registered Nurse
    • Red Deer Hospital
    • Alberta
      • Approx 94mi South of Edmonton
      • Approx 95mi North of Calgary
  • Female with Age Variously Reported
    • 20
    • Late 20's
  • Atypical presentation
    • Neuro
  • Atypical non-presentation
    • Respiratory

If the Case Summary is accurate to this point, we may consider a virus with aberrant genetics or a host with deranged immune response.

Deranged Immune Response
  • Host Genetic Immune Variance
  • Multiple Pathogens
    • Emergent H7N9
    • H5N1
  • Multiplicity of Exposure


Exposure to high-volume, under-reported Emergent H7N9 may have deranged the young woman's immune system prior to or during an H5N1 infection. Recall the normalcy of false negative testing results in eH7N9 and the lack of cough in cases, early and recent. A suppressed immune response stultified by asymptomatic eH7N9 infection is an opportunity for variant tropism with a PolyBasic-cleaved virus like H5N1.

A negative test is not a measure of absence or an exclusion, but only a lack of detection at a point in time and at a sample location using a certain method. Testing fails to detect at a rate above 50% under certain conditions. This young woman with variant tissue tropism may be one of those cases.

Neurological symptoms in avian hosts are common during host switching.
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

alert said:
It is certainly possible that she picked up an OC43 or NL63 or such other human coronavirus co-infection either in China or in Canada; it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere after all. Technically, I believe MERS is thought to be an animal coronavirus, not a human one.

Neither China nor Canada has reported any MERS cases, so something would be seriously amiss if that were the coronavirus detected.
Click to expand...

alert said:
It is certainly possible that she picked up an OC43 or NL63 or such other human coronavirus co-infection either in China or in Canada; it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere after all. Technically, I believe MERS is thought to be an animal coronavirus, not a human one.

Neither China nor Canada has reported any MERS cases, so something would be seriously amiss if that were the coronavirus detected.
Click to expand...

Do we have further information on the known co-infections or confirmation of the patient's employment as a Health Care Worker?

Was she on an exchange program for professional accreditation or was her trip for leisure?
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

NS1 said:
Do we have further information on the known co-infections or confirmation of the patient's employment as a Health Care Worker?

Was she on an exchange program for professional accreditation or was her trip for leisure?
Click to expand...

We don't have any confirmation of any of that. It's still way too early in this investigation.

It seems way too early to suggest the woman was previously infected (or co-infected) with any other rare emerging infectious diseases, such as H7N9, MERS, or SARS. H5N1 is more than capable for killing you on its own.

We do now know that she spent three weeks in Beijing, so she could not have contracted H5N1 prior to arriving in Beijing (from where?).

We have not yet, but will probably get soon, received any confirmation from China that all of her contacts in Beijing are well. It remains possible, but unlikely, that she could have contracted the virus from an as yet unreported human contact (such as a family member) in Beijing.
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

[Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), full page: (LINK).]


Epidemiological update: avian influenza A(H5N1)

09 Jan 2014


​On 8 January 2014, Canada reported a fatal imported case of influenza A(H5N1) infection. This is the first confirmed human case of H5N1 in North America.

The onset of symptoms began on 27 December 2013 during a return flight from Beijing to Edmonton via Vancouver. The symptoms worsened during the travel and the patient was admitted to hospital on arrival in Edmonton, and passed away on 3 January 2014.

The clinical presentation, fever, malaise and headache, was consistent with meningo-encephalitis and did not involve the respiratory system which is unusual for A(H5N1) infection.

Tests at a reference laboratory confirmed influenza A(H5N1) infection on 7 January. The patient had not been outside of Beijing during the visit trip to China and had not visited live bird markets or farms.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is following up two family contacts who travelled together with the patient.


Risk of secondary cases considered very low

Worldwide since 2003, less than 650 human cases of A(H5N1), including 384 deaths, have been reported from 15 countries.

No autochthonous or imported cases of A(H5N1) infections have been reported in Europe since 1996, when this strain was first detected.

Most have been exposed to infected birds. In 2013, China reported 2 fatal cases of A(H5N1), and the last case was reported in February 2013.

The risk of secondary and co-primary cases among the close contacts of this case is considered to be very low for the following reasons:

  • more than 10 days have passed since onset of the disease,
  • transmission of A(H5N1) on board aircrafts has never been documented, and
  • there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission of A(H5N1) ever occurring.
The risk of health care associated transmission in Canada is considered very low for the same reasons.

The evidence points to an isolated case who was infected following exposure in China, although the source and mode of transmission has not yet been established.

A(H5N1) is a strain of avian influenza that occasionally crosses the species barrier and infects humans. Sporadic cases originating in areas where A(H5N1) transmission has been documented in the recent past are therefore not unexpected.

Although the Canadian patient had an atypical clinical presentation and an exposure to potentially infected birds has not been established, the conclusions of the latest ECDC Risk Assessment of 12 January 2012 remain unchanged.

ECDC concurs with the recommendations made by the Canadian Public Health Agency which are in line with the ECDC recommendations that Europeans travelling to China and South-East Asia should avoid live poultry markets and any contact with chickens, ducks, wild birds, and their droppings. This reduces the risk of exposure not only to A(H5N1) but also to A(H7N9). Poultry meat and eggs should be well cooked.


Read more


Other sources

-
------
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

alert said:
We don't have any confirmation of any of that. It's still way too early in this investigation.

It seems way too early to suggest the woman was previously infected (or co-infected) with any other rare emerging infectious diseases, such as H7N9, MERS, or SARS. H5N1 is more than capable for killing you on its own.

We do now know that she spent three weeks in Beijing, so she could not have contracted H5N1 prior to arriving in Beijing (from where?).

We have not yet, but will probably get soon, received any confirmation from China that all of her contacts in Beijing are well. It remains possible, but unlikely, that she could have contracted the virus from an as yet unreported human contact (such as a family member) in Beijing.
Click to expand...

Suggest and Investigate are two different pathways.

Aberrant symptomology requires investigation.

Information sparsity is the norm with these cases. We investigate based on the observational data. Observational data demonstrates co-infection with undisclosed HCoV and undefined H5N1. No genetics appear to be available at this time.

H5N1 and Emergent H7N9 are regularly found in wet markets. As the young woman was in China for 3 weeks, she must have eaten. Odds are that she had food at some juncture from the normal production area of a Wet Market.

As you are aware, a human immune system responds 24 hours a day to the system of challenges, not just to those that we have deemed present due to testing positive at bench research or clinical labs.

Until such time as genetic evidence shows H5N1 with neurological markers, we stand by the estimation that eH7N9 is a probable undetected mediator of the H5N1 neurological infection.
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Apparently, the age of exactly 20 is an artifact of translation; the correct statement appears to be that she was "in her late 20s":

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/health...om-bird-flu-was-in-her-late-20s-who-1.1630389


An Alberta woman who died from H5N1 bird flu was in her late 20s, according to the World Health Organization, which has begun investigating the case and is awaiting a sample of the virus for further study.

Federal officials announced the death Wednesday, saying the woman was the first to die of this kind of flu in North America.

Dr. Nikki Shindo, a medical officer with the WHO, said because this is the first H5N1 case in North America, ?this is substantial.? Shindo told CTV News that the agency is awaiting further information about the case, and ?soon we will receive the virus at a WHO collaborating centre.?

WHO officials are in close contact with both Canadian and Chinese public health officials, and are ?closely monitoring the investigation taking place in China,? she said.

[snip]
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Thanks to everyone!

I started a discussion thread here.
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

[Source: World Health Organization, full page: (LINK).]


Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus ? update

Disease outbreak news / 9 January 2014


WHO has been informed by Canada of a laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in a previously healthy adult, who was first symptomatic on 27 December 2013 and died 3 January 2014.

The person visited Beijing, China, from 6 to 27 December 2013 and returned to Canada on 27 December 2013. The individual was symptomatic during travel with malaise and feeling feverish. The person travelled with one other individual who is well.

Laboratory test was conducted at the Alberta Provincial Lab and confirmed by Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory.

The person had no known exposure to poultry or other animals, nor to ill individuals.

Close contacts, including household contacts and health care workers, are under observation and have received antiviral post-exposure prophylaxis. All contacts have been asymptomatic to date. Follow-up of the airline passengers is also ongoing.

This is the first case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus reported in Canada and the first confirmed human case in the Americas Region.

Globally there have been a total of 649 cases and 385 deaths reported, including this latest case.

WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event, nor does it recommend any travel or trade restrictions.


-
-------
 
China - H5N1 death in Alberta, Canada upon return from China trip - died from meningoencephalitis

[Source: World Health Organization, full page: (LINK).]


Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus ? update

Disease outbreak news / 9 January 2014


WHO has been informed by Canada of a laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in a previously healthy adult, who was first symptomatic on 27 December 2013 and died 3 January 2014.

The person visited Beijing, China, from 6 to 27 December 2013 and returned to Canada on 27 December 2013. The individual was symptomatic during travel with malaise and feeling feverish. The person travelled with one other individual who is well.

Laboratory test was conducted at the Alberta Provincial Lab and confirmed by Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory.

The person had no known exposure to poultry or other animals, nor to ill individuals.

Close contacts, including household contacts and health care workers, are under observation and have received antiviral post-exposure prophylaxis. All contacts have been asymptomatic to date. Follow-up of the airline passengers is also ongoing.

This is the first case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus reported in Canada and the first confirmed human case in the Americas Region.

Globally there have been a total of 649 cases and 385 deaths reported, including this latest case.

WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event, nor does it recommend any travel or trade restrictions.


-
-------
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Fatal case of H5N1 bird flu reported in Alberta, first North American case

...
<!-- tags used to go here -->by The Canadian Press on Thursday, January 9, 2014 6:56am
...
Figuring out what was behind the illness wasn?t easy.

The patient had what is being described as an atypical presentation ? fever and headache, which are symptoms of flu, but no cough, which is common in influenza cases.

The person went to hospital on Dec. 28 but was sent home after being examined. The illness progressed rapidly and the person returned to hospital on Jan. 1 and was admitted. On Jan. 3, he or she died.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Taylor said initially it was thought the person had a clot in the lung ? a pulmonary embolism ? but that was ruled out. And after the first visit to hospital by the person, on Dec. 28, the patient was sent home.

The health-care team caring for the patient also thought the person might have meningococcal encephalitis, an infection of the brain.

But a chest X-ray showed signs of pneumonia and the unidentified hospital ran a battery of tests. The influenza A test came back positive, as did one for a human coronavirus, one of the causes of common colds. The team wondered for a time if the severity of the illness was due to the co-infection with two viruses.

On Jan. 5, Taylor received a call from Talbot, who said tests showed the flu virus was not one of the seasonal influenza A viruses. Alberta was going to send a sample to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg to get their help.

The specimen arrived in Winnipeg on Tuesday morning. By that evening the Alberta lab had identified the virus as an H5; it didn?t have the capacity to identify which neuraminidase or ?N? number the virus had.

Almost simultaneously, the Winnipeg lab?s testing got the full result: H5N1.

Tam said the national lab will share the virus with the WHO?s network of influenza collaborating laboratories, but Canada is certain of the test result.

?We?re very confident this is the diagnosis,? she said.

...

Full text:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2014/01/09/...eported-in-alberta-first-north-american-case/
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Alberta woman who died of H5N1 was in her 20s


Infectious disease experts search for clues in death of health-care worker

The Alberta woman who died of H5N1 bird flu was in her 20s and a health-care worker at Red Deer Hospital.
More details emerged Thursday about the isolated, fatal case of H5N1, or avian influenza, that health officials announced yesterday. It was the first reported death from avian flu in North America...

Zhang told CBC News from Geneva that two main questions need to be answered about the woman's death in Alberta:

  • Where did she visit?
  • How did the exposure happen?
"At the moment, we know that the woman didn't visit a poultry farm or a poultry market, but that does not necessarily mean [that] exposure was excluded," Zhang said.
The woman was in her 20s and was a health-care worker at Red Deer Regional Hospital.
A second focus for the WHO is on close contacts, Zhang said. The goal is to understand whether any human-to-human transmission occurred.
Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease consultant with Toronto's University Health Network who's not with the WHO, says it's "odd" for humans to get infected with H5N1 from a non-poultry source.
"Almost all of the cases that we've heard about going back to the 1990s, there's been direct contact with poultry," said Gardam. "So if this person hasn't visited farms and hasn't been around birds, that's very odd. I imagine they'll be doing a lot of sleuthing in China to figure out what happened."....
:tiphat:http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/alberta-woman-who-died-of-h5n1-was-in-her-20s-1.2490018
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

The woman flew from Beijing to Vancouver on Dec. 27 aboard Air Canada flight 030. She then boarded Air Canada flight 244 to Edmonton.
Anyone who travelled on either of those flights can call health officials at 1-866 225-0709.
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Source: http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4307834-who-would-like-more-info-on-canadian-flu-case/


2 hours ago |
WHO would like more info on Canadian flu case


... One of the WHO's flu experts says the agency would like more information on her illness, because initial reports have suggested her symptoms were not entirely typical of H5N1 infections.

Dr. Nikki Shindo says the agency would like to know if there has been an autopsy or if one is planned...

...It wasn't immediately known if an autopsy was conducted in this case.

Alberta's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. James Talbot, has said the woman had neurological symptoms that made doctors suspect she had encephalitis, or a brain infection.

While that isn't a common symptom of flu it can happen, and has been reported in some H5N1 cases.

In fact, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's top flu expert, says when he heard of the case, he was struck by the reference to encephalitis.

The first known person infected with H5N1 ? a three year old boy in Hong Kong in 1997 ? showed signs of encephalopathy, says Fukuda, who helped investigate that outbreak.

Shindo says the WHO has gotten preliminary information on the case, but hopes to learn more on Friday about the steps China and Canada will take to try to figure out how the woman became infected with the bird flu virus...
 
Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

Re: Canada - H5N1 death in Alberta after travel from China - died from meningoencephalitis

More details, including her workplace.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/alberta-woman-who-died-of-h5n1-was-in-her-20s-1.2490018

Alberta woman who died of H5N1 was in her 20s
Infectious disease experts search for clues in death of health-care worker
CBC News Posted: Jan 09, 2014 11:33 AM ET| Last Updated: Jan 09, 2014 6:10 PM ET

The Alberta woman who died of H5N1 bird flu was in her 20s and a health-care worker at Red Deer Hospital.

More details emerged Thursday about the isolated, fatal case of H5N1, or avian influenza, that health officials announced yesterday. It was the first reported death from avian flu in North America.

[snip]

(If she arrived in Beijing on December 6, and was already ill in Vancouver's airport on the 27th, she could not have been occupationally exposed in Red Deer Hospital. The timing is not right. Could she have had any occupational exposures in China? Did she visit any hospitals in China? Any laboratories? It is very unusual for an HCW to contract an emerging infectious disease through non-occupational means, but quite common for them to contract it occupationally.

Let us not also forget that there is apparently a high-level laboratory in China that resulted in a series of lab accidents and SARS cases in 2004, including among HCW in Beijing. Could a similar incident have happened again? - alert)
 
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