Quebec wildlife authorities say the first three cases of bird flu in the province have been identified among wild birds. The province’s Wildlife Department said today that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza was confirmed during a surveillance operation in southwestern Quebec. The strain was detected in a Canada goose in Granby, Que., east of...
Category: Health
Animal tranquillizer detected in growing number of human overdose deaths in Ontario
A powerful drug used to sedate horses and cattle is creeping into Canada’s illicit drug supply and has been detected in a growing number of human drug poisoning deaths in Ontario. The animal tranquillizer xylazine is already causing concern in the United States and results from a drug-testing site in Canada show it’s becoming more...
COVID-19 resurgence likely underway, ‘more bumps’ expected, Tam warns
Canada’s chief public health officer warned Friday that a COVID-19 resurgence is likely underway and encouraged Canadians to be vigilant to help curb the spread of the latest variant. Dr. Theresa Tam said that as of Thursday, daily average case counts had increased by 28 percent nationally from the previous week, indicating that COVID-19 is...
bioLytical Laboratories Inc. Receives Health Canada Authorization for the iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test
bioLytical Laboratories Inc. announced today that it is launching a second test on its new platform, iStatis, after receiving Health Canada authorization for the iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test for its immediate market entry into Canada bioLytical has received Health Canada authorization to sell its iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test across Canada for home use...
Mosquito net with new insecticide reduces malaria cases in Africa: study
A mosquito net coated with a new insecticide that makes the insects unable to move or fly has reduced cases of malaria in children by about 40 per cent, according to a new study conducted in Tanzania involving Canadian researchers. The two-year study involved 39,000 Tanzanian households. In randomized trials with over 4,500 children aged...
WHO rejects Canadian-made COVID-19 vaccine from Medicago, with ties to big tobacco
The World Health Organization has rejected Medicago’s made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine, restricting the federal government’s ability to donate those doses to countries in need. The federal government signed an agreement with Medicago in 2020 to buy 20 million doses once the vaccine was approved by Health Canada, with the option to purchase 56 million more. Health...
Feds commit another $2B to provinces to address health backlogs caused by COVID-19
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the federal government will commit another $2 billion to help provincial health systems work through their surgical and diagnostic backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The money, included in the newly tabled Bill C-17, follows a $4-billion top-up to the federal health transfer last summer and is expected to be...
Vaccinated travellers won’t need COVID-19 test to enter Canada as of April 1
Vaccinated travellers will no longer need to show a COVID-19 test to enter Canada beginning April 1, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos officially announced Thursday. The change is being made at the tail end of the Omicron wave in Canada, as new reported cases of COVID-19 have declined since mid-January. Duclos said the change is possible...
Summer job market tilts into job-seeker’s favour
The outlook for student jobs appears bright despite supply chain challenges, with the Omnicron variant receding and governments lifting COVID restrictions in the face of high vaccination rates.
Public health mandates could return, Tam warns, but favours lighter touch in future
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, says COVID-19 is not going away, and Canada must be ready for next autumn when respiratory viruses typically resurge.