Viral fragments of bird flu have been identified in samples of milk taken from grocery store shelves in the United States, a finding that does not necessarily suggest a threat to human health but indicates the avian flu virus is more widespread among dairy herds than previously thought, according to two public health officials and a public health expert who was briefed on the issue.
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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta
‘Contrarian’ doctor a good choice to lead COVID-19 data review, Alberta premier says
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says it’s a good idea to have a physician who accused the province of exaggerating COVID-19’s impact on hospitals now lead a review of pandemic-era health data.
Smith says Dr. Gary Davidson was selected to lead the data review because she wants to hear a range of viewpoints, including from those “shouted down in the public sphere.”
Continue reading‘Contrarian’ doctor a good choice to lead COVID-19 data review, Alberta premier says
Comments closed Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu
H5N1 bird flu virus particles found in pasteurized milk but FDA says commercial milk supply appears safe
Testing conducted by the Food and Drug Administration on pasteurized commercially purchased milk has found genetic evidence of the H5N1 bird flu virus, the agency confirmed Tuesday. But the testing, done by polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, cannot distinguish between live virus or fragments of viruses that could have been killed by the pasteurization process.
The agency said it has been trying to see if it could grow virus from milk found to contain evidence of H5N1, which is the gold standard test to see if there is viable virus in a product. The lengthy statement the agency released does not explicitly say FDA laboratories were unable to find live virus in the milk samples, but it does state that its belief that commercial, pasteurized milk is safe to consume has not been altered by these findings.
Comments closedTopic: researchView all posts for the topic: research
COVID-19 virus disrupts protein production, study finds
Comments closedWhen SARS-CoV-2 enters our cells, it disrupts the process of making proteins, which are essential for our cells to work correctly. A particular SARS-CoV-2 protein called Nsp1 has a crucial role in this process. It stops ribosomes, the machinery that makes proteins, from doing their job effectively. The virus is like a clever saboteur inside our cells, making sure its own needs are met while disrupting our cells’ ability to defend themselves.
Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu
Scientists say USDA is sharing too little data too slowly on H5N1 flu
When the US Department of Agriculture announced late Sunday that it had publicly posted new data from its investigation into a bird flu outbreak in cattle, scientists eagerly searched a well-known platform used globally to share the genetic sequences of viruses.
The sequences weren’t there. As of Tuesday morning, they still aren’t.
Researchers looking to track the evolution and spread of H5N1 say the information that was posted — raw data on a US server — isn’t very useful and is anything but transparent. They also say the government’s release of information in the outbreak, which was confirmed in cattle almost a month ago, has been painfully slow.
Comments closedTopic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick
COVID-19 kills 2 more in N.B., flu sends child under 4 and 2 youths to hospital
COVID-19 has killed two more New Brunswickers, while a child under four and two youths aged five to 19 are among those hospitalized by the flu, Tuesday’s Respiratory Watch report shows.
“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and number of deaths) remained stable during the current reporting period,” April 7 to April 13, the report says.
Influenza activity decreased slightly, it says.
The two people who died from COVID during the reporting week were both aged 65 or older.
Comments closedTopic: SaskatchewanView all posts for the topic: Saskatchewan
Sask. officials knew COVID-19 was spreading at an ‘exponential’ rate in 2021, but refused restrictions
This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.
Newly obtained internal data shows the Saskatchewan government knew COVID-19 was spreading at an “exponential” rate in the fall of 2021, providing new insight into what officials knew before a devastating COVID-19 wave hit the province.
The Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and the CBC have obtained a six-page briefing presented to top officials at Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health in September 2021, days before the provincial government publicly declined to re-introduce measures doctors said were urgently needed to stop the spread of the virus.
The presentation, dated Sept. 3, 2021, came before a wave of COVID-19 infections that killed hundreds and nearly overwhelmed the province’s health system.
The government would later have to airlift roughly a quarter of its most critically sick patients to Ontario because there were not enough doctors and medical staff to care for them in Saskatchewan.
Comments closedTopic: SaskatchewanView all posts for the topic: Saskatchewan
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Following two weeks of proceedings, the jury’s verdict handed down Friday found Jackson, 55, withheld his then 7-year-old daughter from her mother in late 2021 to early 2022. Police eventually found the pair in Vernon, B.C.
While the motive was undisputed, Crown prosecutor Zoey Kim Zeggelaar said the results of Jackson’s actions were in direct contravention of the Order.
Comments closedTopic: Hamilton RegionView all posts for the topic: Hamilton Region
Hamilton launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign
Hamiltonians at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 infection are eligible for vaccination this spring.
In an April 19 news release, Hamilton public health services announced it’s joining forces with the Ontario Ministry of Health to administer vaccine doses to high-risk community members.
Comments closedTopic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario
Public Health reports eight new high-risk COVID cases
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health officials reported eight new high-risk cases as of April 17 in the region, the same as in the previous reporting period.
The health unit also reported eight active high-risk cases, the same as in the last health unit report.
There were no new deaths attributed to COVID-19 leaving the number of deaths since the pandemic to 150 in the region.
Comments closedTopic: airborne transmissionView all posts for the topic: airborne transmission
WHO experts now agree diseases like COVID spread through the air
The World Health Organization (WHO) and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
The Geneva-based U.N. health agency released a technical document on the topic on Thursday. It said it was the first step toward working out how to better prevent this kind of transmission, both for existing diseases like measles and for future pandemic threats.
Comments closedTopic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau
Mpox cases on the rise again, OPH warns
Mpox cases in Ontario are on the rise, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is warning local doctors and nurses.
The province has reported 26 cases so far in 2024, with OPH noting in its Wednesday statement that four had been confirmed in Ottawa.
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is a rare viral disease that is typically endemic in some central and west African countries.
Comments closedTopic: activismView all posts for the topic: activism
Clean Air Club Is Organizing Musicians to Make COVID-Safer Shows and Spaces
Last year, Chicago resident Emily Dupree attended a concert with her partner, who caught COVID-19 at the show. While Dupree treated her sick partner and tried to avoid getting ill in their shared home, some thoughts began to form in her mind. Dupree and her partner still wore masks everywhere they went, and had adopted air purification in their home early in the pandemic to mitigate the risk of transmission. But she knew that wasn’t the case for most people.
Around this time, Dupree came across a question the father of prolific abolitionist organizer Mariame Kaba used to ask her when she was frustrated: “It sounds like this is something you are very upset about. What will you do about it?” That question helped Dupree “channel a lot of despair I was feeling during the pandemic into concrete action,” she told Teen Vogue. And Clean Air Club was born.
Comments closedTopic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec
Quebec successfully pushes back against rise in measles cases
Quebec appears to be winning its battle against the rising tide of measles after 45 cases were confirmed province-wide this year.
“We’ve had no locally transmitted measles cases since March 25, so that’s good news,” said Dr. Paul Le Guerrier, responsible for immunization for Montreal Public Health.
There are 17 patients with measles in Quebec currently, and the most recent case is somebody who was infected while abroad, he said.
Comments closedTopic: human rightsView all posts for the topic: human rights
‘Heart breaks’: Advocates say new disability benefit still leaves people in poverty
Advocates say a disability benefit that was supposed to be a historic move to lift people out of poverty turned out to be a disappointment in the federal budget.
The new Canada Disability Benefit will provide a maximum of $2,400 a year—or $200 a month — for low-income people with disabilities.
The benefit is expected to be given to about 600,000 people and won’t kick in until July 2025.
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