Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
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.
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.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.