Avian flu typically spreads between wild and domestic birds but can spread to other animals and people. There have now been more than 40 confirmed human cases in the United States, according to the Centre for Disease Control,

Federal health officials have confirmed that a B.C. teen who is currently in hospital has Canada's first human case of H5N1 avian flu.

Health officials in British Columbia have reported the first presumptive case of H5 avian influenza in a human in Canada.