Health
Coronavirus gets an official name: COVID-19 – CNET
The novel coronavirus, first discovered in the city of Wuhan, China, and reported to the World Health Organization on Dec. 31, has rapidly spread across mainland China. In the past six weeks it’s infected over 40,000 Chinese citizens and killed more than 1,000. During that time, the virus had a placeholder name — 2019-nCoV — while the respiratory illness it causes remained unnamed.
On Tuesday, WHO officially named the illness caused by the coronavirus “COVID-19,” with “CO” representing “corona,” “VI” for “virus” and “D” for disease. The “19” relates to the year when the first cases presented in China.
The Coronavirus Study Group, part of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, was responsible for naming the coronavirus itself. The virus will be known as SARS-CoV-2, according to a preprint paper uploaded to bioRxiv by the study group.
So:
- The novel coronavirus, previously dubbed 2019-nCoV, is now officially named SARS-CoV-2.
- The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is now officially named COVID-19.
The new coronavirus has genetic similarities to the virus that caused the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003. The naming convention is very similar, but it’s a little confusing. SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — was the disease, while SARS-CoV was the virus that caused the disease.
An official name will help prevent inaccuracy and stigmatizing while also providing a standard format for any future outbreaks, WHO said during a media briefing to provide updates on the outbreak.
“Under agreed guidelines between WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization, we had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization.
The organization said it’s assisting other countries with how to prevent the disease and how to help those who are already sick.
Fears about the novel virus spreading across the globe have created havoc for international travel to and from mainland China, caused the closure of a handful of tech firms in China and dramatically reduced the attendee list for this year’s Mobile World Congress. A number of big names — Amazon, Sony, Nvidia, LG — will skip the world’s biggest mobile trade show, citing public health concerns.
Originally published on Feb. 11, 8:47 a.m. PT.
Update, 11:18 a.m. PT: Adds background details. Update, 1:49 p.m. PT: Clarifies virus names/disease names.
Health
RCMP warn about benzodiazepine-laced fentanyl tied to overdose in Alberta – Edmonton Journal
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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Health
CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Health
Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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