B.C. Children鈥檚 Hospital says a 13-year-old girl with avian flu was discharged Tuesday after weeks in hospital.

The patient was taken to a pediatric intensive care unit with respiratory failure and pneumonia on Nov. 8 and health officials said she tested positive for H5N1 a day later.

A recent medical journal chronicled the teen鈥檚 hospitalization in Vancouver, which involved tracheal intubation and supplemental oxygen.

Her family says in a statement that the experience has been 鈥渓ife-changing鈥� and that they are grateful to have their daughter home.

They are asking for privacy as they 鈥渉eal and rebuild鈥� their lives after the traumatic experience.

The teenager, who has a history of mild asthma and an elevated body mass index, was the first human case of H5N1 in Canada. Health officials have said they don鈥檛 know how she got infected.

A provincial health spokesperson said Thursday they typically refrain from releasing information about patients but recognize 鈥渢here has been an extraordinary amount of attention and interest from across North America鈥� in this case.

A patient in Louisiana hospitalized with a severe case of avian flu died earlier this week.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control said it was comparing the genetic features of the local teenager鈥檚 avian flu case with that of the Louisiana patient.