It's not clear how the British Columbia teenager picked up the virus, which has been detected recently in wild birds and poultry in the province, a health official said.

A Canadian teenager infected with bird flu — that country’s first case involving a locally acquired infection — is in critical condition and experiencing difficulty breathing, health officials said Tuesday.

A hospitalized teen in British Columbia is likely Canada's first case of H5 bird flu contracted within the country, officials reported Saturday (Nov. 9). H5 bird flu viruses are a broad group of related viruses that carry a protein called hemagglutinin 5.