Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-014

Daily Brief

The PSEPC Daily Brief is a compilation of summaries of publicly available and PSEPC information concerning critical infrastructure protection and emergency management.

DOB06-014 - 20 January 2006

News

Avian Influenza: Update
On January 19, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Ministry of Health in China has confirmed one additional case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The victim, who is now deceased, was a 35-year-old woman who had been employed as a poultry culler. This new case is the ninth in China, and the country’s sixth fatality since 2003.

Since 2003, WHO has confirmed a total of 149 human cases with the H5N1 avian influenza, including 80 deaths.
(Source: World Health Organization, 19 January 2006)
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In brief

New Brunswick roads flooded after heavy rains: Update
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-012, on January 19, the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) released an additional River Watch 2006 bulletin reporting conditions on the areas affected by heavy rain and ice. The provincial EMO stated that water levels continue to be elevated along the St. John River and its tributaries, with slight increases in some areas.
(Source: New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization, 19 January 2006)
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Ice build-up causes power problems in Saskatchewan
On January 19, media reports that recent warm weather has created power troubles in the town of Kindersley, Saskatchewan. Residents in the area have been experiencing power surges and outages due to ice and frost on power lines. SaskPower crews are expected to finish the de-icing process shortly.
(Source: CBC News, 19 January 2006)
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PSEPC Geomatics provides a map (265 kb) of the affected area.

Cyber risk assessment

Over the course of the past 24 hours, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has not detected any significant new threats or vulnerabilities. No significant incidents with the potential to affect critical infrastructure have been reported. Accordingly, based on the information available to CCIRC, the cyber risk facing Canadian critical infrastructure is assessed as low. Personnel responsible for information, systems and network security should continue to apply appropriate security precautions and monitor their systems.

Recent cyber alerts and advisories issued by CCIRC can be viewed under “Recent analytical releases” at www.psepc.gc.ca/ccirc.

See also...

• The Weather Office
• FAC - Travel Updates

Note to readers

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) collects information related to cyber and physical threats to, and incidents involving, Canadian critical infrastructure. This allows us to monitor and analyze threats and to issue alerts, advisories and other information products.

Any suspected criminal activity should be reported to local law enforcement organizations. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) National Operations Centre (NOC) provides a 24/7 service to receive such reports or to redirect callers to local law enforcement organizations. The NOC can be reached at (613) 993-4460. National security concerns should be reported to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) at (613) 993-9620.

Links to sites not under the control of the Government of Canada (GoC) are provided solely for the convenience of users. The GoC is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The GoC does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.

Some hyperlinks in the PSEPC Daily Brief direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act. Users should be aware that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written.