Another cause for concern: flu season is underway in the U.S., and as seasonal influenza virus goes around, “humans, ourselves, could be a mixing vessel,” Davis says. If a person were simultaneously infected with bird flu and seasonal flu, the two viruses could theoretically combine to create a more transmissible strain.

An island halfway between South Africa and Antarctica, where half of the world’s wandering albatrosses breed, is under threat from a fast-spreading strain of bird flu.

In what is believed to be Canada's first human case of bird flu, a teenager is in a British Columbia children's hospital in critical condition with a presumptive case of the virus, the CBC reports. Authorities say the unnamed teen developed symptoms Nov.

A person has tested positive in British Columbia, Canadian health officials said, though the results must be sent to another lab for confirmation.