Officials in California expressed frustration on Thursday over access to coronavirus testing kits after the first case of the respiratory disease of unknown origin was diagnosed in the United States, prompting fears of “community spread”.
On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC) announced that a California patient who contracted COVID-19 did not have relevant travel history or exposure to another individual with the virus.
The case in California’s Solano County brought the total number of COVID-19 cases in the US to 60, including 45 cases among those who were repatriated, the CDC said.
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While the US has seen a relatively few number of cases, health experts say the latest development marks a possible turning point, with fears the virus could spread further.
“I expect that we are going to start seeing some community-level transmission, in pockets across the country,” said Peter Jay Hotez, professor and dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine, in Houston, Texas.
“Whether or not it expands beyond that and becomes pervasive across the nation, that’s the unknown,” he told Al Jazeera.
The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China, has spread to 44 countries around the world, affected markets, suspended flights and shuttered schools in a dozen countries. It has infected more than 82,000 people and killed over 3,000 – mostly in China.
Hotez says faster confirmation of coronavirus infection is crucial to a rapid response by local health authorities and to ensure the safety of both patients and healthcare workers.
“Preparedness is primarily done at the local level, many people think the CDC is in charge of preparedness, but in fact, it is done throughout the various counties and local health departments,” he said.
Testing delayed for four days
Officials say testing was previously done by the CDC in their headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, which was delaying the diagnosis process by at least a day.
In the recent California case, the patient was brought to UC Davis Medical Center on February 19, but testing was delayed for four days, because the CDC said the patient “did not fit the existing CDC criteria” for the virus, according to a hospital press release.
“We need to start testing in our communities and we need to fix our testing issues, and we need to do this now,” California Representative Ami Bera said during US House of Representatives committee hearing dedicated to addressing coronavirus.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday the state currently had about 200 test kits, an “inadequate” number, but that he is in contact with federal agencies who have promised to send more kits in the coming days.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a US House of Representatives committee on Thursday that at least 40 public health labs were now able to test specimens for coronavirus, a number that could double by Friday.
But funding to confront the pandemic has turned into a political issue in the US, which will hold presidential elections in November. Trump, a Republican, asked Congress for $2.5bn, but Democrats said the amount is insufficient and have called for $8.5bn.
Amid a stock market slump over fears of the virus’s spread, Trump on Wednesday sought to quell concerns.
“I don’t think it’s inevitable,” Trump told reporters when asked about the possibility of a larger outbreak in the US.
“It probably will. It possibly will. It could be at a very small level or it could be at a larger level,” he added as he announced that Vice President Mike Pence would oversee the federal government’s effort to contain the virus. “Whatever happens, we’re totally prepared.”
Trump holds a document as he gives a news conference on the coronavirus at the White House [Carlos Barria/Reuters]
But health officials say that preparing for the possibility of community spread of the virus may prove difficult.
“We do not have a secret pathway to protect people. Most of the protections that we are using fall into the category of non-pharmaceutical intervention: personal, community and environmental,” Michael Wilkes, Professor of Medicine and Global Health at UC Davis told Al Jazeera.
Personal intervention, Wilkes said, involves individuals taking precautions to protect themselves from contracting the virus, as well as ensuring they do not infect others, by seeking medical attention and isolating themselves if they suspect they have symptoms.
Community measures include cancelling large gatherings of people such as sporting and music events. While environmental involves sanitisation of public spaces.
The virus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia. Health officials say, like the flu, it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and affects people in different ways.
Wilkes says not everyone who gets coronavirus will suffer from severe illness and evidence shows that four out of five people infected suffer from relatively minor illness. He adds that although the spread of the virus poses a serious risk to public health, he also worries about the effect it may have on society.
“We are following the evidence and we are doing what needs to get done medically, but the biggest battle we have is fear,” Wilkes said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaking to journalists at a news conference in Sacramento, California [Randall Benton/AP Photo]
As for the Solano County, California, case, officials say they are attempting to locate anyone who may have come into contact with the patient. The county also declared a state of emergency.
California Governor Newsom, who expressed frustration over access to testing kits, declined to declare a statewide emergency, and said: “People should go about their day-to-day lives with common sense. I don’t want to instil any sense of new anxiety.”
With additional reporting by William Roberts in Washington, DC.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
