A teenager in British Columbia has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza and remains in critical condition, with health officials unable to identify the source of exposure despite extensive contact tracing.

“Last year we got several reports from tourists and scientists that they saw around six walruses dead here on the west side of Svalbard. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sample them as the dead walruses drifted away by the time we got to the place. But it’s not normal to get so many reported dead walruses in such a small area," said Christian Lydersen, senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute. Now samples (collected by a Station Manager in July 2023) have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Norway reports a record high of 175 Lyme disease cases from January to June 2024, with uncertain causes attributed to weather conditions and increased tick awareness.

A third person in the US has tested positive for bird flu linked to an outbreak in dairy cattle, indicating possible cow-to-human transmission.

The FDA found pasteurized milk containing inactive bird flu virus remnants from infected dairy cows, but maintains the milk supply is safe.

Cows at two Texas dairy farms have contracted bird flu, marking the first known instance of the disease in livestock, amidst recovery from devastating wildfires.

A Lyme disease-carrying tick was found on a dog in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., with uncertainty about whether the tick originated locally or from a southern province.

The expedition revealed that gannets have easy access to plastic, as their nests are mostly made from plastic debris. Hundreds of dead gannets were also observed by the experts, with it being estimated that three factors played a role in their deaths: natural attrition, bird flu, and plastic pollution.

The virus was first reported among brown skua on Bird Island, off South Georgia. Since then, researchers and observers have reported mass deaths of elephant seals, as well as increased deaths of fur seals, kelp gulls and brown skua at several other sites. Researchers warn of one of ‘largest ecological disasters of modern times’ if the highly contagious disease reaches penguin colonies.