First North American death from bird flu The unnamed victim, who was not identified, died on January 3, having been admitted to hospital on Jan 1. Rona Ambrose, the Canadian health minister, insisted this was an isolated case, although officials are trying to contact others on the flight. "The risk of H5N1 to Canadians is very low," she said. There is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission. Two people who travelled with the victim are being kept under observation for 10 days - double the time the disease takes to manifest itself as a precaution. Officials said the H5N1 virus was identified by the federal microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The virus is contracted directly from birds, mainly poultry. In 60 per cent of human cases the disease is fatal.