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Polio in Canada? Wastewater to be tested – CTV News

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Canada plans to start testing wastewater in a number of cities for poliovirus following new reports of cases abroad, the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed on Friday.

Although Canada has been polio-free since 1994 – thanks to uptake of the polio vaccine – PHAC warns it could return, since it is still circulating in other countries.

New York State confirmed a single case of polio on July 21, and the Associated Press reported on Friday that the virus that causes the highly transmissible paralytic disease has been detected in New York City’s wastewater.

In a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca on Friday, the Public Health Agency of Canada said it is aware of the confirmed case in New York, and that it plans to launch a wastewater testing initiative in Canada “as soon as possible.” So far, no recent cases of polio have been detected in Canada.

“PHAC has been communicating with national and international partners who are experts in this field to finalize a wastewater testing strategy,” the agency wrote, adding it will also begin testing wastewater samples collected earlier this year from key high-risk communities to determine if polio was present in Canada prior to the reported international cases.

“PHAC will also be sending samples to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for additional confirmation,” the agency wrote. It did not say when or where testing will take place.

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Polio is often asymptomatic, but in some cases, the viral infection can lead to paralysis or death.

Since wastewater analysis can detect the presence of viruses in a community where asymptomatic cases might otherwise evade clinical detection, environmental scientist Mike McKay said it could be a valuable tool to public health agencies watching to see if the virus returns to Canada.

McKay is executive director of the University of Windsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research. He leads a team that has analyzed wastewater samples from Windsor, Leamington, Amherstburg, Lakeshore, London, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Thunder Bay throughout the pandemic. While wastewater analysis was used to monitor drug use in Canada prior to the pandemic, it was only with the arrival of COVID-19 that scientists like McKay first began using it to track the spread of viruses.

“Wastewater has been underutilized, overlooked for so long, and realizing what a potential resource it can be to aid our understanding of disease transmission through communities is exciting,” McKay told CTVNews.ca in an interview Friday.

Following the successful use of wastewater testing to track COVID-19, McKay said some of his colleagues at other institutions throughout Ontario have already begun using it to monitor for diseases like influenza and monkeypox.

“Recognizing its broader application to public health is really exciting, and we’re happy to be able to participate and help public health units in responding to COVID-19, and hopefully future outbreaks,” he said.

Nonetheless, PHAC warned that accurately testing wastewater for poliovirus is a developing, and imperfect, science. For example, wastewater detections can be affected by extreme precipitation events, such as flooding in a community.

The agency said it’s important that children are fully immunized and up-to-date on their boosters, as countries where the virus isn’t normally found – such as the United Kingdom, Israel and the U.S. – report new cases.

“While the general risk to the Canadian public from polio remains low, these international cases are a good reminder to stay up-to-date with vaccinations, even for rare vaccine-preventable diseases,” the agency wrote. 

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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AP college football: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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