Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: outbreaks

Sick days skyrocketed as Treasury Board employees returned to the office

The number of sick days employees working for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat took during the month of September skyrocketed as the department urged public servants to make their way back to their offices at least three days a week.

According to departmental data, TBS employees took a total of 2,191 sick days between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30.

That was up significantly from previous years. During the same period in 2023, employees took 1,708.9 sick days. In 2022, they took 1,477.9 sick days and in 2021 they had 1,075.4 sick days. In 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, TBS employees’ sick days totalled a mere 827.6 days.

Comments closed

High rates of COVID are causing outbreaks, rising hospitalizations and deaths heading into the school year

If it seems like many of your friends and neighbours have been sick with COVID this summer, you are not wrong.

Ottawa is experiencing a COVID-19 wave that is sending people to hospital, causing outbreaks in long-term care homes, retirement homes and hospital wards, and even causing deaths among some of the most vulnerable. At least one local hospital has tightened masking requirements following outbreaks there, and Ottawa Public Health is advising students to take precautions when they head back to school, including staying home when sick and wearing masks for their own protection and the protection of others.

Comments closed

Mpox vaccination program sees brisk uptake in Ottawa

Public health officials in Ottawa are ramping up a vaccination program to limit the spread of the mpox virus, and there are signs that early uptake has been brisk.

After announcing on Saturday that it was opening 36 spots for vaccination against the virus that causes the infectious disease formerly known as monkeypox, Centretown health clinic MAX Ottawa said Monday it’s fully booked and exploring ways to expand the program.

Ottawa Public Health’s (OPH) Sexual Health Clinic on Clarence Street is also offering vaccination against mpox. Eligibility criteria can be found on the OPH website.

Comments closed

Video | Mpox virus found in wastewater, no confirmed cases in N.L.

Public health has found trace amounts of the mpox virus in wastewater, but there are no confirmed cases in this province.

The news comes just two days after the world health organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.

NTV’s Becky Daley reports.

Comments closed

Toronto seeing ‘spike’ in mpox cases: officials

Toronto is reporting a “spike” in mpox cases and health officials are urging eligible residents to get vaccinated to contain the spread.

In a news release issued Tuesday, Toronto Public Health said it has seen 93 confirmed cases as of July 31. This time last year, the city’s case count stood at 21.

The latest numbers indicate that there were 13 new cases confirmed in Toronto over the last two weeks of July.

According to TPH, mpox cases have been reported across the city, however a higher concentration of infections has been observed among residents in the downtown core.

Comments closed

Ontario has a globally praised system for monitoring diseases through wastewater. So why is the province shutting it down?

For the past three years, Alexandra Johnston has started her work day by reaching for the pickaxe in the trunk of her car.

It is her tool of choice for prying open manhole covers – a task she demonstrated with practised ease last week while on a tour of her wastewater sampling regimen in Toronto.

Wearing a surgical mask and gloves, Ms. Johnston dragged the heavy cover aside, then grabbed hold of the fishing line secured underneath. After hauling up a few metres of line, she displayed her catch: a dripping wet tampon she had placed there the day before.

Her teammate, Claire Gibbs, quickly moved in with a prelabelled plastic bag to capture the sewage-laden sample. Using scissors, Ms. Gibbs deftly snipped the line, sealed the bag and stowed it away in the trunk as part of that day’s delivery.

Comments closed

Colorado reports avian flu infections in 5 people who culled sick poultry

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has reported five human H5 avian influenza infections in workers who were part of the response to a recent large outbreak at a layer farm, four of which have been confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Patients have eye, respiratory symptoms

The patients have mild illness, including conjunctivitis and common respiratory symptoms. None were hospitalized, according to statements from the CDPHE. Though officials haven’t said if the virus on the poultry farm is the same as the B3.13 genotype infecting dairy cattle, conjunctivitis has also been reported in four dairy farm workers over the past few months.

Comments closed

Tour de France Reinstates COVID-19 Measures as More Cases Emerge in the Peloton

The Tour de France has reinstated COVID-19 protective measures, requiring race organizers, media, and guests to wear masks when in contact with riders and team staff. This protocol was announced by race organizer ASO on Sunday morning after several recent COVID-19 cases among the peloton.

“In order to limit health risks, it is now compulsory to wear a mask in the various areas where you will be in contact with the riders and members of the cycling teams,” read the statement from the ASO.

Riders who have abandoned the race due to the virus include Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), and Michael Mørkøv (Astana-Qazaqstan). Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) remains in the Tour despite testing positive, as the rules currently allow.

Comments closed

Montreal General Hospital dealing with summertime COVID-19 outbreak

There is a COVID-19 outbreak on the 18th floor of the Montreal General Hospital as Quebec and other jurisdictions see a rise in infections.

The hospital has implemented a mandatory mask policy for everyone on that unit and everyone on the floor is being monitored for symptoms.

Overall, the numbers for positive tests for COVID-19 in Quebec are up from 448 in April to 745 yesterday. That’s still far below the 3,000 we had a day in early January.

The 22 deaths reported by the province’s public health institute, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) during the week of June 30 is still far below the 100 a week Quebec was seeing a year ago.

Comments closed

Masks should be mandatory in healthcare

As of April 8, 2024, masks are “no longer required in healthcare settings” in BC. This decision comes after data showing decreased COVID-19 levels in the province. However, COVID-19 hasn’t suddenly become less dangerous, nor has it disappeared. Data surrounding masks suggests the decision is questionable, if not dangerous. Healthcare settings have always been environments with increased pathogenic risk, which is why masks are so important.

Medical masks have been a thing long before COVID-19. Countries in Asia have worn masks for a variety of reasons “since at least the 1950s.” With the propagation of the SARS outbreak back in 2002, masks as a layer of protection have become a staple in many societies. Throughout the ongoing pandemic, and previous ones, they’ve been proven to be an efficient form of protection and prevention of airborne diseases. A wealth of studies have demonstrated masking’s effectiveness for both the wearer and those around them. One study showed masks were effective in “reducing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections.” N95s are especially effective, with efficacy rates 48% higher than cloth masks.

Comments closed

Number of Ontario measles cases nears 10-year high as Peel Region confirms new case

Health officials in Peel Region have confirmed a Mississauga resident has contracted measles, as the total number of cases in the province approaches a 10-year high.

In a news release on Tuesday, Peel Public Health confirmed its second case of measles this year. Officials did not disclose how the man got infected but provided locations where the public may have been exposed.

Those who were at Silver Creek Convenience and Health Care Medical Clinic on May 10 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., as well as Trillium Health Partners Mississauga Site Emergency Room at 9:15 a.m. on May 10 and 6:15 p.m. on May 11, are being advised to contact Peel Public Health at 905-799-7700 immediately.

Comments closed

What we’re starting to learn about H5N1 in cows, and the risk to people

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been around for decades, and the damage it wreaks on chickens and other poultry is well documented. But the recent discovery that the virus has jumped into dairy cattle — whose udders seem to be where the virus either infects or migrates to — has dumbfounded scientists and agricultural authorities.

Questions for which there are pretty clear answers when it comes to birds are suddenly unsettled science in cows. How are they getting infected? Are they transmitting the virus cow to cow, or are human actions — activities that are part of the day-to-day of farming — serving as an unrecognized amplifier of viral transmission? In the interface between infected cows and humans, how might people be at risk? Does consuming milk laced with live H5 virus pose a hazard?

Comments closed

There’s never a good time to drink raw milk. But now’s a really bad time as bird flu infects cows

Scientists who know about the types of pathogens — E. coli and Salmonella among them — that can be transmitted in raw milk generally think drinking unpasteurized milk is a bad idea. But right now, they believe, the danger associated with raw milk may have gone to a whole new level.

“If I were in charge, for the moment I would forbid the selling of raw milk,” said Thijs Kuiken, a pathologist in the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who has done research on H5N1 and the damage it inflicts for about two decades.

Comments closed

Confirmed case of measles in Edmonton, AHS warns of public exposure

Alberta Health Services is warning the public that an individual with lab-confirmed measles has been in public settings in Edmonton while infectious.

In a Wednesday news release, officials sent out a list of locations and times of when the infected person was out in public and said residents who were at any of the locations during the specified dates and times may have been exposed to measles:

Comments closed

USDA Now Requiring Mandatory Testing and Reporting of HPAI in Dairy Cattle as New Data Suggests Virus Outbreak is More Widespread

USDA is now ordering all dairy cattle must be tested prior to moving the animals across state lines as a way to help stop the spread of HPAI H5N1 impacting dairy herds across the country. This comes after a lab at Ohio State University detected genetic material of the virus in 38% of retail milk samples they’ve tested, data that also suggests the current outbreak is being underreported.

In a new Federal Order announced on Tuesday, USDA says in an effort to protect the U.S. livestock industry from the threat posed by highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, there are a number of actions being taken with federal partners to limit the spread.

Comments closed

Bird flu virus found in grocery milk as officials say supply still safe

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.

Comments closed

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 closed

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 closed