Experts and health authorities say that while the risk of human infection with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza remains low, people should avoid contact with sick or dead birds.

A teenager in British Columbia has become the first person in Canada to test positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu. Health authorities are urgently investigating how the virus spread, but they assure the public that the risk remains low.

A teenager in Canada is critically ill with the country's first human case of H5N1 bird flu. Health officials aren't sure how the youth was exposed.

Since Influenza A or flu viruses are named after the animal where they are most commonly found, avian viruses are naturally found in birds. H5N1 is a highly transmissible and usually mild disease in geese,

People have been hearing a lot about H5N1 bird flu — or highly pathogenic avian influenza — since a B.C. teen became the first human to get the virus in Canada and is in hospital.