A teenager in the province of British Columbia has become the first person in Canada to test positive for bird flu, authorities said, AFP reports.

This person is receiving treatment in a children's hospital for H5 avian flu, the provincial health department said

The source of contagion and any possible contacts are being investigated.

Officials said the infection probably came from a bird or animal.

Bird flu is most commonly found in wild birds and poultry, but has more recently been detected in mammals, with an outbreak in cattle seen across the United States this year.

It can occasionally infect humans through close contact or contaminated environments.

Scientists have voiced concern about the growing number of mammals becoming infected by bird flu, even if cases in humans remain rare.

They fear a high rate of transmission could facilitate a mutation of the virus, which could enable it to be passed from one human to another

The bird flu pathogen could transmit through close contact with a carrier or through a dirty environment.