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Kingston-area avian influenza confirmed as highly pathogenic variant – The Kingston Whig-Standard

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Dead bald eagle in Kingston tested positive for the virus

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As avian influenza continues to affect local wild bird populations, a Napanee wildlife centre has confirmed that the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) variant of avian influenza has been identified in the Kingston region.

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According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the HPAI virus, also known as H5N1, was first discovered in Canada in 2021 and has since been found in wild birds in every province and territory.

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Leah Birmingham said Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre received confirmation from the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) that the highly pathogenic version of the avian influenza virus has not only been discovered in dead Canada geese from Kingston, but also other scavenger species as well.

“They’ve now found it in a raven, a crow and (a bald) eagle,” Birmingham said on Friday. “That makes sense, because all of those birds would potentially feed off of the carcasses of dead Canada geese.”

Last week, Sandy Pines received four crows from Kingston showing neurological symptoms.

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“That’s often what you see,” she said. “The water birds typically show a variety of signs of a flu-like disease. But the birds that eat them seem to have more of the neurological signs, like seizures, and less of the upper respiratory ailments.”

In an interview earlier in February, Birmingham told the Whig-Standard that birds showing signs of the virus were being humanely euthanized to limit the risk of spread among the birds who live at or are being rehabilitated at the wildlife centre.

Birmingham said the centre has been sending bird carcasses to the CWHC for viral identification, but lately they’ve been told to stop.

“We’ve already shown positives in the scavenger species essentially,” Birmingham said. “So we know it’s in those bird populations as well.”

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But otherwise, Birmingham said that calls to the wildlife centre about sick birds are on the decline.

“The situation has died down a bit, and it’s just sort of in patches now, not the same intensity,” she said. “That’s a good sign.”

Still, it’s been a record-breaking year in the Kingston region for the virus, Birmingham said.

Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Public Health told the Whig-Standard on Friday that as of Feb. 22, 12 birds had tested positive for avian influenza in the region, according to a summary report from the Ontario Ministry of Health.

Of those positive tests, eight of the birds were geese, three were crows and one was an eagle.

It’s not clear how many of those tested positive for the highly pathogenic variant.

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The CFIA, which monitors the spread of HPAI with a careful eye to Canada’s poultry industry, keeps a dashboard of active investigations and positive test results from across the country.

Since the end of January, five active outbreaks are under investigation in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Quebec.

Max Kaiser, a commercial egg farmer in Greater Napanee, said he treats every wild bird on his property as if it were infected, taking precautions to protect his commercial flocks.

An infection within a commercial poultry flock can take an extreme financial toll on farmers.

“We take every precaution to keep everything out of the barn, whether it’s changing footwear, changing clothes, disinfecting tools, everything we can do to keep our barns clean from whatever’s outside,” he told the Whig-Standard on Friday. “That could be walking through bird droppings in the barnyards, to wild birds perching on the rooftop. It’s concerning at every level.”

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While Kaiser isn’t losing sleep over the presence of HPAI in the region, and while biosecurity measures are standard practice at Ontario poultry farms, he is taking extra precautions.

“It’s just diligence. Changing footwear is a simple one, but then when our suppliers, like our feed truck and the delivery vehicles, come and go from the barnyard, they have to disinfect, too, even the tires on the trucks as they come up the laneway,” he said.

Kaiser Lake Farms’ egg operation is located on the shores of Hay Bay, an inlet of Lake Ontario.

“Migratory birds are starting to migrate north again, so we’re ramping up,” Kaiser said. “I’m seeing geese in the fields now that weren’t there a week ago. Now that we’re seeing them, we’re back up to full precautions.”

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The Feather Board Command Centre, an organization that provides up-to-date information to Ontario poultry industry members about health risks to commercial bird populations, is recommending heightened biosecurity measures on all of the province’s poultry farms as HPAI moves across the country.

“Currently there are 37 active HPAI cases in Canadian provinces, affecting over 11 million birds,” it said in a news release on Feb. 2. “With the unseasonably warmer weather we have been experiencing, wild birds continue to be on the move and we are seeing increases in wild bird die-offs, increasing the potential risk of disease transmission.”

While HPAI has not been observed to infect humans, some mammals have tested positive for the virus, including raccoons, striped skunks, red foxes, cats and dogs, the CFIA stated on its website.

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“While HPAI is primarily a disease of birds, it can also infect mammals, especially those who hunt, scavenge or otherwise consume infected birds,” the agency wrote. “For example, cats that go outdoors may hunt and consume an infected bird, or dogs may scavenge dead birds. In 2023, a dog in Canada was infected with avian influenza after chewing on a wild goose, and died after developing clinical signs.”

KFL&A Public Health recommends on its website that people who discover dead birds on their property wear protective gear while handling bird carcasses, and either bury the bird at a minimum of one metre deep, or double bag and dispose of the carcass in the garbage. Those who discover a dead bird on public property should contact their municipality, the organization said.

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Birmingham said people should try, if they can, to bury the carcasses. This prevents the spread of the virus among other animal populations, as well as protect domestic pets that may come in contact with a dead bird.

Still, with its potential threat to both wild birds and commercial operations, Birmingham is urging people not to panic abut the virus.

“I don’t want the public to freak out about all wild birds,” she admitted. “There are all kinds of diseases that wildlife can be the reservoir for and carry. Some of them are manmade because of people bringing animals from one continent to another. And others happen naturally, because of high-density populations of animals … in a way this is nature’s way of sort of taking care of dense populations of animals, right?

“I just don’t want people to be so petrified that their dog or cat is going to get this virus because there were crows in their backyards. It’s not that simple.”

mbalogh@postmedia.com

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Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

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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.

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Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

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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.

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