Health
Medical Officer of Health gives monkeypox update – North Bay News – BayToday.ca
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The local medical officer of health for the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit is urging calm when it comes to the monkeypox outbreak that has reached Canada.
The multi-country outbreak of monkeypox — a rare disease that comes from the same family of viruses that causes smallpox — has been active since early May.
As of Wednesday, a total of 219 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide. Most of the cases have been detected in young men, who self-identify as men who have sex with men (MSM). Of those, there are 118 confirmed cases reported from 12 EU/EEA Member States.
According to Dr. Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton (UK), “Monkeypox, as the name suggests, was first found in laboratory monkeys in the late 1950s. However, scientists aren’t sure if monkeys are the main animal reservoirs (carriers of the virus), so the name may be a bit of a misnomer. The latest thinking is that the main reservoir is probably smaller animals, such as rodents.”
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) observes this is the first time chains of monkeypox transmission have been reported in Europe without known epidemiological links to West or Central Africa.
There are 16 confirmed cases in Canada, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, all in Quebec.
Although the “risk posed by monkeypox is low, nearly everyone in Canada is susceptible because routine vaccination against smallpox ended decades ago,” PHAC officials said late last week in this CP report stating Canada is considering using a reserve of smallpox vaccine for monkeypox cases.
“Let’s look at the risk and put it into perspective,” says Dr. Jim Chirico following Wednesday’s Board of Health meeting. “The overall risk to the general public is very, very low.”
“Monkeypox (MPX) does not spread easily between people. Human-to-human transmission occurs through close contact with infectious material from skin lesions of an infected person, through respiratory droplets in prolonged face-to-face contact, and through fomites (such as contaminated clothes, towels or furniture). The predominance, in the current outbreak, of diagnosed human MPX cases is among men having sex with men (MSM), and the nature of the presenting lesions in some cases, suggests transmission occurred during sexual intercourse,” according to an ECDC risk assessment.
The virus is spread through close contact between people, especially in the same household, including the sexual route, advises ECDC. Based on its epidemiological assessment, “the likelihood of MPX spreading in persons having multiple sexual partners in the EU/EEA is considered high.”
Being aware of the signs and symptoms is the most important part, says Chirico “but most cases are very mild and besides treatment for the symptoms, nothing else is usually required and most people do not end up in the hospital. It’s limited. In two to four weeks, it’s over.”
The monkeypox virus may cause severe disease in certain population groups, such as young children, pregnant women, and immunosuppressed persons.
“Although most cases in current outbreaks have presented with mild disease symptoms,” notes the ECDC risk assessment, “the likelihood of cases with severe morbidity cannot be accurately estimated yet. The overall risk is assessed as moderate for persons having multiple sexual partners (including some groups of MSM) and low for the broader population.”
Chirico advises local residents to “be aware of the signs and symptoms of monkeypox. Initially, they are similar to the flu, where you might have a headache, fever, chills, muscle aches, maybe back pain, and fatigue. You can also experience sweating and the other important thing to note are any lumps and bumps, like lymph nodes that are increasing.”
About one to three days following the onset of symptoms, a rash may appear — and it may appear on the face and go to the rest of the body. In about 75 per cent of the cases, it will be on the hands and feet, he says.
A personal risk assessment of monkeypox infection is also important, says Dr. Chirico. “Sexual contacts, possible exposure to an individual diagnosed with monkeypox or an individual that is symptomatic and awaiting lab confirmation.
“If you have signs and symptoms of monkeypox, immediately isolate and arrange to be tested by your primary health care provider. And, remain in isolation until the result of your test is known. If you do test positive for monkeypox, you do need to isolate until the lesions resolve, meaning the scabs have fallen off and new skin is present.
“If you are a contact of an individual with monkeypox, you can self-monitor for symptoms for 21 days and seek medical care or testing if the symptoms present but you don’t need to quarantine if you don’t have any symptoms as a contact.”
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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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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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