British Columbia teen had no underlying health conditions and had been exposed to dogs, cats and reptiles, officials say

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/26197829

British Columbia teen had no underlying health conditions and had been exposed to dogs, cats and reptiles, officials say

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241112230713/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/12/canada-bird-flu-teenager-hospital

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2024%2Fnov%2F12%2Fcanada-bird-flu-teenager-hospital

  • lnxtx@feddit.nl
    ·
    2 days ago

    Less contagious than COVID-19, from the Wikipedia article:

    Humans - Avian flu viruses, both HPAI and LPAI, can infect humans who are in close, unprotected contact with infected poultry. Incidents of cross-species transmission are rare, with symptoms ranging in severity from no symptoms or mild illness, to severe disease that resulted in death.[43][42] As of February, 2024 there have been very few instances of human-to-human transmission, and each outbreak has been limited to a few people.[44] All subtypes of avian Influenza A have potential to cross the species barrier, with H5N1 and H7N9 considered the biggest threats.[45][46]

    • sexywheat [none/use name]
      ·
      2 days ago

      Less contagious than COVID-19

      So less contagious than the most contagious virus ever known in history? What a relief.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      2 days ago

      The worry for decades is a mutation that makes it as contagious as it is in birds, which may be a mild game over scenario if it ever happens.

      • BodyBySisyphus [he/him]
        ·
        2 days ago

        Not to worry, it's not like there's another highly contagious virus making the rounds that bird flu could swap genes with if a coinfection occurs. Aren't we fortunate? this-is-fine