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Tag: influenza

Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Scientists say USDA is sharing too little data too slowly on H5N1 flu

Published April 23, 2024

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Published by: CNN
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By Brenda Goodman

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.

Continue readingScientists say USDA is sharing too little data too slowly on H5N1 flu
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Topic: 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

Published April 23, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon

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.

Continue readingCOVID-19 kills 2 more in N.B., flu sends child under 4 and 2 youths to hospital
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Topic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba

La distribution des vaccins contre la COVID-19 sera interrompue cet été

Published April 16, 2024

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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Manitoba indicated that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines will be discontinued as of May 1. The vaccination campaign will resume in autumn 2024.

A provincial spokesperson says the province has taken this approach based on scientific evidence and advice from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Based on seasonal trends in respiratory viruses in Manitoba, a dose administered in the fall is more likely to provide protection when respiratory virus circulation levels are higher, he said.

Continue readingLa distribution des vaccins contre la COVID-19 sera interrompue cet été
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Topic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick

COVID-19 kills New Brunswicker aged 45-64, 2 youth among those hospitalized by flu

Published April 16, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon

A New Brunswicker aged 45 to 64 has died from COVID-19, while the flu sent eight people to the hospital, including two youth aged five to 19, updated data from the province Tuesday shows.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate,” according to the Respiratory Watch report. “Some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) decreased slightly during the current reporting period, between March 31 and April 6.

Influenza activity remained “relatively stable,” it says.

Continue readingCOVID-19 kills New Brunswicker aged 45-64, 2 youth among those hospitalized by flu
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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Bird flu detected in cows in three more Michigan counties, agriculture department says

Published April 12, 2024

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Published by: Michigan Public
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By Zena Issa

The recent detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has been confirmed in three additional dairy herds in Michigan counties: Ionia, Isabella, and Ottawa, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said Friday. That brought the total to four affected counties, with Montcalm County the first to detect the disease in a dairy herd about two weeks earlier.

Continue readingBird flu detected in cows in three more Michigan counties, agriculture department says
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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Hospitalizations nudge upward in otherwise stable respiratory checkup

Published April 11, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Andrew Foote

Ottawa is back in high-risk respiratory territory because of an increase in new hospitalizations.

COVID-19 and RSV trends are generally seen as low in the weekly respiratory update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH).

Flu wastewater readings and hospitalizations remain very high as this flu season stretches into spring.

OPH said there were 17 new COVID, flu and RSV hospitalizations the week starting March 24, and 27 the week starting March 31.

Continue readingHospitalizations nudge upward in otherwise stable respiratory checkup
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Topic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick

3 COVID deaths recorded as N.B. cases increase slightly, child under 4 dies from flu

Published April 3, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Hadeel Ibrahim

Three more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, and one child died of influenza, according to data from the province updated Wednesday.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have slightly increased, while influenza hospitalizations remained steady in the period of March 17 to March 23, according to the provincial Respiratory Watch report.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) increased slightly,” the report says.

The person who died of influenza was four years old or younger.

Continue reading3 COVID deaths recorded as N.B. cases increase slightly, child under 4 dies from flu
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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Tests confirm avian flu on New Mexico dairy farm; probe finds cats positive

Published April 2, 2024

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Lisa Schnirring

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday announced that tests have now confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a New Mexico dairy herd and that the virus has now been confirmed in five more Texas dairy herds.

Part of quickly evolving developments, the announcement came shortly after Texas health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first human case, which involves a person from Texas who had contact with dairy cattle, highlighting the risk to farm workers.

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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Avian flu infects person exposed to sick cows in Texas

Published April 1, 2024

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Lisa Schnirring

Federal and state health officials today reported that a person connected to a dairy farm in Texas has tested positive for H5N1 avian flu, the first known case linked to sick dairy cows and the nation’s second since the virus began circulating in wild bird and poultry in 2022.

Today’s case announcement underscores new interim guidance that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released over the weekend on preventing, detecting, and responding to avian flu infections in humans, which are very rare and mainly pose a threat to people who are exposed to sick animals or contaminated environments.

Continue readingAvian flu infects person exposed to sick cows in Texas
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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Number hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. hits new low for 2024 in latest update

Published March 28, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
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By Ian Holliday

The number of patients with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals declined to its lowest level of 2024 in the latest data update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

There were 133 test-positive patients in provincial hospitals as of Thursday, according to the BCCDC. The last published update to show a total lower than that was in August of last year, when the BCCDC reported just 76 patients hospitalized.

This week’s hospitalized population is less than half of what it was around this time last year. The final published update of March 2023 showed 294 patients in B.C. hospitals.

Continue readingNumber hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. hits new low for 2024 in latest update
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Topic: Newfoundland and LabradorView all posts for the topic: Newfoundland and Labrador

Mask mandate to be lifted at N.L. hospitals Monday

Published March 28, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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If you’re headed to the hospital on Monday, you won’t need to wear a mask as Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services has updated its masking guidelines.

Masking had been required for patients and visitors at health-care facilities since February, but will no longer be required as of Monday, according to NL Health Services.

People who are seeking care and showing symptoms of viruses like COVID-19 will still be required to wear a mask. They can wear their own medical mask to the facility — but not a cloth mask — or get one on-site.

Continue readingMask mandate to be lifted at N.L. hospitals Monday
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Topic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick

3 more COVID deaths in New Brunswick, 4 youth among flu hospitalizations

Published March 26, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon

Three more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, while no new influenza deaths have been reported, and hospitalizations for both viruses have decreased, updated data from the province Tuesday shows.

A child under four, and three youth aged five to 19 are among those hospitalized by the flu between March 10 and March 16, according to the Respiratory Watch report.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) decreased slightly during the current reporting period,” it says.

Influenza activity “slightly decreased” during the reporting week.

Of the three people who died, one was aged 45 to 64 and the other two were aged 65 or older.

Continue reading3 more COVID deaths in New Brunswick, 4 youth among flu hospitalizations
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Topic: Waterloo RegionView all posts for the topic: Waterloo Region

Waterloo Region senior dies of COVID-19 as flu hospitalizes a greater number of patients

Published March 22, 2024

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Published by: Waterloo Region Record
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By Jeff Outhit

A woman in her 90s has died of COVID-19, raising the pandemic toll to 12 deaths this year.

The regional public health unit reported the latest death Friday in a weekly update of indicators. The health unit counts cases where the pandemic disease is a main or contributing cause of death.

Hospitalizations are stable at a relatively low level. There are currently six patients with COVID-19 in three local hospitals on an average day. A typical day during the four-year pandemic is 26 patients hospitalized.

Continue readingWaterloo Region senior dies of COVID-19 as flu hospitalizes a greater number of patients
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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Respiratory virus levels mostly steady, but 13 flu hospitalizations in latest update

Published March 21, 2024

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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Respiratory disease levels have remained mostly steady in the past week, Ottawa Public Health says in its latest update.

Influenza remains a major concern with 13 more patients hospitalized in the seven days ended March 16. There were 14 new hospitalizations for COVID-19, which OPH described as “low and decreasing since last week.”

There were 45 more confirmed COVID-19 cases, about half of them in patients 65 years of age and older.

Continue readingRespiratory virus levels mostly steady, but 13 flu hospitalizations in latest update
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

Why Is the CDC Now Treating COVID Like It’s the Flu?

Published March 7, 2024

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Published by: Intelligencer
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By Chas Danner

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday mothballed its longstanding COVID isolation guidance, announcing that people no longer need to isolate for five days after catching the coronavirus. Instead, per the CDC, they should stay home if they feel sick but can leave home and resume normal activities as soon as their symptoms are getting better and its been a day since they had a fever (without the help of fever-reducing medication). That means that the CDC is now both streamlining and simplifying its recommendations and advising people to treat their COVID infections like they would the flu or any other respiratory illness — even though the novel coronavirus is nothing like the flu or other common respiratory viruses.

Many public-health experts are backing the move, which is the first major change the CDC has made to the guidance since it reduced the isolation period from ten days to five in late 2021 and had been previewed last month in a report by the Washington Post. The CDC and the experts supporting the plan have noted that it makes sense for the agency to align its isolation guidance with how everyone is now living with COVID, four years after the start of the pandemic. That new normal is that COVID isn’t going away and people are still catching it, but the threat it poses and harm is causes continues to decline thanks to virtually everyone having some form of immunity owing to prior infection or the administration of widely available vaccines, in addition to the availability of effective life-saving antiviral treatments like Paxlovid.

Continue readingWhy Is the CDC Now Treating COVID Like It’s the Flu?
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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Ottawa Public Health stats mainly stable for COVID-19, flu and RSV

Published February 29, 2024

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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Respiratory infections in Ottawa showed little change over the last week.

Ottawa Public Health reported 83 new confirmed cases and three new deaths during the period ending Feb. 27.

Last week, there were 130 new cases and two additional deaths.

This week’s reading brought the total number of Ottawa cases to 98,254 since the pandemic began in 2020, while 1,230 people have died.

The health agency’s weekly respiratory infections dashboard showed 12 new hospitalizations for flu patients in the seven days ending Feb. 24, for a total of 199 this season. The report described flu levels as very high, the same description as last week’s data.

The report showed 21 new hospitalizations for COVID-19, for a total of 1,064, and three more hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The COVID-19 and RSV results were described as “moderate.”

Continue readingOttawa Public Health stats mainly stable for COVID-19, flu and RSV
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Topic: Waterloo RegionView all posts for the topic: Waterloo Region

Senior dies of COVID-19, raising death toll to 11 this year in Waterloo Region

Published February 23, 2024

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Published by: Waterloo Region Record
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By Jeff Outhit

A man in his 70s has died of COVID-19, the regional public health unit announced Friday in a weekly update.

This raises the death toll to 11 this year where the pandemic disease was a main or contributing cause.

Hospitalizations for the disease are stable and relatively low, averaging 13 patients per day on Feb. 17. This compares to a typical day in the pandemic with 27 patients in three local hospitals.

Continue readingSenior dies of COVID-19, raising death toll to 11 this year in Waterloo Region
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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Fall COVID-19 vaccine cut illness risk by half overall

Published February 22, 2024

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Published by: Globe and Mail
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By Kelly Grant

The fall COVID-19 vaccine cut the risk of COVID-19 illness by about half overall, and by 67 per cent for those with a previous infection, according to new research from the Canadian network that has long tracked the performance of the annual flu shot.

This is the first time the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network, which is comprised of hundreds of primary care providers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, produced mid-season estimates of the effectiveness of immunization against COVID-19.

Continue readingFall COVID-19 vaccine cut illness risk by half overall
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