[Infectious Diseases News Brief]

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE): Alberta
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has quarantined an Alberta farm in an investigation of a case of BSE. This case of one cow was detected as part of Canada's ongoing BSE surveillance program. Alberta Agriculture officials tested a cow that had been condemned at slaughter. No meat from the cow entered the food chain. Preliminary tests performed at a provincial laboratory and at the CFIA's National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease were unable to rule out BSE. The CFIA sent specimens to the World Reference Laboratory at Weybridge, United Kingdom, which has verified the presence of BSE. The CFIA and the Province of Alberta are investigating the animal's origin and how its remains were processed. Information suggests that the risk to human health and the possibility of transmission to other Canadian cattle from this case are low.
Source: Government of Canada and Government of Alberta News Release, 20 May 2003

Preliminary Report on the Ongoing Investigation into SARS: Canada and United States
Health Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released a preliminary report on the ongoing investigation into SARS spread to health care workers. The report indicates that health care workers caring for SARS patients followed Health Canada's infection control guidelines. As an added precaution, however, the report recommends that workers should undergo additional training on the correct use and removal of personal protective equipment. The report's recommendations support in principle the recommendations Health Canada has been making to protect health care workers caring for SARS patients. The final Health Canada /CDC report is expected to be completed later this summer. This preliminary report is part of an ongoing investigation by Health Canada and the CDC in which officials from both organizations visited six Toronto area hospitals where health care worker infections occurred to gather information on the circumstances surrounding those who were infected. The report is available on the Health Canada website at: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/03vol29/prev/dr-sars0515.html.
Source: News Release, Health Canada, 15 May 2003

Notifiable Diseases Annual Summary: Canada
This report presents the notifiable diseases data for Canada which were collected on a monthly basis from the provinces and territories for 2000. Summary tables present the number of reported cases for each notifiable disease by province and territory and by age and sex. A summary table introduces each chapter and presents the number of reported cases for the notifiable diseases in the category and is then followed by more detailed cases and rates of infection by province, age and sex. There were several changes in the nationally reportable diseases collection in 2000. The following diseases were added to the list: acute flaccid paralysis, Creutzfeld-Jacob disease, cryptosporidiosis, cyclosporiasis, Group B streptococcal disease of the newborn, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, human immunodeficiency virus infection, invasive group A streptococcal disease, invasive pneumococcal disease and laboratory-confirmed influenza. The following diseases were removed from national surveillance: amoebiasis, chancroid, gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum, listeriosis, and trichinosis. To obtain a copy of this report, please contact the Member Service Centre, Canadian Medical Association, 1867 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1G 3Y6, Tel.: (613) 731-8610.
Source: Division of Surveillance and Risk Assessment, Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Health Canada, 20 May 2003

The details given are for information only and may be very provisional. Where incidents are considered of national importance and are ongoing, the initial report will be updated as new information becomes available.

[Infectious Diseases News Brief]