New details are painting a picture of the Alberta woman who died after contracting bird flu, with her family saying she was a young, recently married nurse who was dedicated to her family and to helping others.

The family issued a statement through Alberta Health Services Friday, to help put a face on the woman whose death has made headlines across the country.

The woman had been vacationing in China for three weeks, and flew home through Vancouver and Edmonton on Dec. 27. She began feeling ill on the flight home and died one week later.

She was the first to die of H5N1 bird flu in North America.

The family is choosing not to release the woman's name to maintain their confidentiality but says she was a driven and energetic woman who was often described as the bright light in the room.

“Our beloved daughter and wife was a hard-working, independent young woman,” the family says in its statement.

They write that she grew up in China and decided early on that she wanted to become a nurse. She came to Canada to study nursing at Red Deer College, they write, and put herself through school before earning a job as a nurse at the Red Deer Regional Hospital.

“She wanted to help people. She also wanted a career that would allow her to provide for her family and to support those she loved. She did a tremendous amount for her family; she was successful and providing for those in her life. She was a uniquely independent and determined young woman,” they write.

They add that she married her husband a year and a half ago and they were building a happy life in Red Deer. She also saved up for her vacation to China in December with her mother.

“Together, they travelled on a trip which would sadly turn out to be her last,” the family writes.

“We are devastated by her death, and we request time to grieve in privacy. We thank you for respecting our wishes.”

Alberta Health Services says the woman’s family is fully co-operating with health authorities as they investigate her death.

The World Health Organization has also begun investigating the woman’s death and plans to study a sample of the virus that infected the woman. Their investigation, which is also taking place in China, aims to look into the woman’s activities before she fell ill to try to understand when and how the woman was exposed to the virus.

The WHO said the woman, who was previously healthy, had no known exposure to poultry or other animals, nor exposure to ill individuals.

They also hope to get a better picture of the woman’s symptoms, how the disease progressed, and the treatment she received in Canada.

Public health officials have said that the woman did not initially have typical flu symptoms, such as a cough and a high fever, and went to the hospital the day after returning home complaining of headache and malaise.

She was initially sent home because her symptoms seemed more typical of seasonal flu. Alberta is currently facing a spike in seasonal flu cases.

The woman returned to hospital on Jan. 1 with more severe symptoms, deteriorated quickly and died within days of a brain infection.

Canadian public health officials say it is highly unlikely the woman infected anyone else she may have been in contact with, in part because she did not have a cough and more importantly because the virus does not transmit easily from person to person.