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.

A teenager in British Columbia was hospitalized in critical condition with the disease, and officials were working to find out how the person was exposed to the virus.

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.