First Bird Flu Death in North America

A case of the H5N1 bird flu has been reported in Canada.

Officials say the victim came down with the infection after returning from a trip to China in late December.

The person was admitted to hospital on Jan. 1 and passed away two days later.

The victim's death in Alberta, Canada is the first of its kind in North America.

"The symptoms worsened and the individual was hospitalized and passed away on January the third," said Gregory Taylor, deputy chief public health officer.

The H5N1 influenza is not the same as the seasonal flu, although the symptoms are similar.

It kills about 60 percent of those infected and is normally spread through contact with infected birds.

Some scientists fear it could mutate and spread rapidly among people. But Canadian health officials say there is little chance of that happening.

"The risk of transmission is very low, there is no evidence of sustained human to human transmission," said Taylor.

Officials declined to release the sex of the victim, and are looking into how he or she contracted the virus.

The victim did not travel to a farm or visit markets while traveling in Beijing.

Family members are not showing any signs of being sick.

"No other illnesses of this type have been identified in Canada since the traveler returned from china. This is an isolated case," said Taylor.

According to the World Health Organization, as of mid-December there had been 648 laboratory-confirmed human cases of the H5N1 flu.

More than half of those infections have led to death.