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Communicable & Infectious Diseases
Project
Norovirus is a group of highly contagious viruses that cause short-term gastroenteritis symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and potentially chills and fever. Norovirus infection can occur by contact with a person carrying the virus, touching or using contaminated surfaces (e.g., door knobs, light switches, utensils), food or drinking water. Infections are more common in winter as...
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Drinking Water, Personal Service Establishments, Water
Floatation or float tanks have resurged in popularity since their initial commercialization in the 1970s. These tanks, pods, or chambers are intended to help users achieve certain physical and mental benefits through the elimination (or minimization) of sensory inputs. Briefly, the user floats on his or her back in a warm, near-saturated solution of magnesium sulphate (MgSO4), which buoys the...
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This fact sheet is for public health professionals. It provides a brief overview on specific non-pharmaceutical measures to be used in community settings. Such measures can prevent the spread of influenza by interrupting the transfer of viruses from objects or people through the use of personal protective equipment or changes to behaviour. The content is primarily based on the NCCID article “Non...
View Full Article Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is endemic in North America. In contrast to MRSA acquired in hospital settings, CA-MRSA is present in a wide variety of environments including health care settings outside of hospitals and animal care settings, beaches and recreational waters, athletic facilities, spas and saunas. The risk of infection from environmental...
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Practices and Procedures, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Environmental Health Surveillance, Zoonoses General, Canada
Surveillance approaches for emerging zoonotic infectious diseases is less well developed than for traditional clearly-defined diseases. Zoonotic diseases with recent implications in Canada include: influenza, West Nile Virus (WNV), Lyme Disease (LD), Hantavirus Pulmonary Disease (HPS), and food-borne zoonoses, with influenza having the greatest human impact. Emerging zoonotic disease (EZD)...
View Full Article Public health events are best dealt with in an interdisciplinary manner with many actors and agencies involved, each lending their expertise to solve the complex problem. Many examples exist of agencies working across boundaries to solve significant public health issues, but the examples are less frequent of agencies that work cross-disciplines. It is not a matter of desire, but one of tradition...
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Personal Service Establishments General, Canada
Primary inquiry: Is there evidence for or against the use of clean vs. sterile dressings in the care of tattoos?
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Personal Service Establishments General, Canada
Primary inquiry: What information is available regarding the environmental health-related risks of colonics in the academic literature, and how can environmental health practitioners help reduce these risks?
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Personal Service Establishments General, Canada
Primary inquiry: Information regarding tebori, a traditional form of Japanese “hand-poke” tattooing; requesting information regarding infection control and inspection.
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Personal Service Establishments, Recreational Water, Water General, Canada
Floatation refers to a meditative activity in which users float in a high-density Epsom salt solution in a dark, quiet environment. Because float tanks are distinct from swimming pools and other recreational water, questions have been raised regarding the need for and efficacy of various disinfection methods. Although direct evidence is lacking, pathogen kill assays and field studies from...
View Full ArticleTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Personal Service Establishments, Recreational Water, Water General, Canada
The growing popularity of “floatation” and the ways in which this practice differs from the use of pools and spas have raised interesting questions in environmental public health. Public health agencies in the US and Canada have taken very different approaches to the classification and regulation (or non-regulation) of these facilities. Continuing engagement amongst environmental health...
View Full Article Waterborne infections are an important cause of preventable enteric disease. This report obtained information on: characteristics of waterborne disease events (WBEs) in Canada; factors contributing to WBEs; current WBE detection and prevention practices; and, information needs of front-line public health staff.
Forty-seven WBEs were identified, the majority occurring prior to 2001. Giardia and...
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Topics: Contaminants and Hazards, Practices and Procedures, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Environmental Health Surveillance, Zoonoses
The purpose of this review is to synthesize available evidence for public health practitioners, making decisions in the event of emerging zoonosis, by finding public health surveillance initiatives for emerging zoonosis and seeing what criteria have been used to evaluate these systems.
Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) can be broadly defined as having newly appeared in a population or rapidly...
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We estimate that 3% to 16% of food-borne outbreaks investigated by public health agencies are associated with community events including church suppers, fairs, potlucks, picnics, etc. However, there is likely under-reporting of individual cases of enteric illness and of small outbreaks related to these events. Poor food handling practices at home and at the site where the food is prepared or...
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Topics: Contaminants and Hazards, Water, Biological Agents, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Drinking Water
While boiling water is an effective way to kill most microbial pathogens, research performed in the United Kingdom has shown that people do not necessarily comply with boil water advisories. Similarly, in Walkerton, Ontario in 2000, only 44% of respondents reported that they were aware of the order to boil water when it was first issued on the local radio at the start of the outbreak and in...
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Workshops Presentations
Topics: Contaminants and Hazards, Chemical Agents, Children's Environmental Health, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Drinking Water, Water
The BCCDC/NCCEH Environmental Health Seminar Series provides an opportunity for learning and knowledge exchange on a variety of environmental health topics. The seminars can be attended in-person or online.
Title 1: Assessing the risk of lead exposure to children from drinking water in Metro Vancouver child care facilitiesSpeaker: Thomas Quach, BCIT Environmental Health Student
Abstract: With...
2017-06-29_EH_Seminar_Risk_lead_exposure_drinking_water_child_care_facilities-Quach.pdf, 2017-06-29_EH_Seminar_Lead_analysis_in_drinking_water_of_daycares-Lin.pdf, 2017-06-29_EH_Seminar_Mobi_bike_share_program-Moore.pdfTopics: Contaminants and Hazards, Biological Agents, Climate, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Practices and Procedures, Risk Analysis
One of three presentations delivered as a webinar in collaboration with the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID).
The two other presentations from this event (titles below) and the full webinar recording are available upon request from NCCID:
Lessons learned from previous outbreaks: West Nile virus
Communicating climate change: A whole Earth perspective
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Topics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Recreational Water, Water General, Canada
The NCCEH eJournal Club is a series of informal hour-long sessions discussing and appraising articles relating to environmental health. Active participation is encouraged. Although these sessions are directed at public health inspectors, anyone interested in a given topic is more than welcome to take part. Remote viewing instructions are available on the Eventbrite registration page.
Title of...
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The Zoonotic Disease Symposium is a collaborative, interdisciplinary forum that provides an opportunity for professionals from across BC to gather, network, and learn about health issues affecting animals and humans. The Symposium program offers a broad range of topics that are relevant to professionals from a variety of disciplines. The agenda for this event will be made available closer to...
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UBC School of Population and Public Health - Rats! Purveyors of pestilence or public health helpers?
Presenters:
Kaylee Byers, Interdisciplinary doctoral student, Vancouver Rat Project researcher, and Friedman Scholar
Michael Lee, SPPH doctoral student, and Vancouver Rat Project researcher
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On December 4, 2015, Hamilton Public Health Services received a report from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) of raccoon strain rabies in a raccoon that attacked two dogs. This rabid raccoon was the first rabies-positive terrestrial animal since 1994 in Hamilton. Between December 2015 and December 2017, Hamilton received reports of over 275 rabid animals. This presentation will provide...
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CIPHI Seminar Series - Navigating Uncharted Territory: The experience of Public Health Inspectors in Clinical IPAC Audits
Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) work is being conducted by Certified Public Health Inspectors (CPHIs) in Ontario Public Health Units. This is due in large part to the current IPAC Practices Complaint Protocol requiring PHUs to investigate all IPAC related complaints in the community. While CPHIs have the unique and valuable skills in IPAC and risk assessment necessary to lead IPAC...
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Topics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Personal Service Establishments General, Canada
The NCCEH eJournal Club is a series of informal hour-long sessions discussing and appraising articles relating to environmental health. Active participation is encouraged. Although these sessions are directed at public health inspectors, anyone interested in a given topic is more than welcome to take part. Remote viewing instructions are available on the Eventbrite registration page.
Title of...
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UBC School of Population and Public Health - Perspectives of Botswana policy-makers and healthcare workers towards Tuberculosis infection control and occupational health measures
The best of current research in the Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (OEH) field is presented at these seminars, which run weekly during the academic year.
Presenter: Bojosi Gamontle
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Topics: Contaminants and Hazards, Communicable & Infectious Diseases, Food, Zoonoses General, Canada
This CIPHI Seminar Series will feature three student abstracts.
Microbial Levels of Kibbeh Nayyeh
Presenter: Mahmoud Kanaan
Kibbeh Nayyeh is a raw beef ready-to-eat dish typically found in the Middle East, but also prepared and served in Canada. Under Section 33 (7) of Ontario Regulation 562: Food Premises (1990), it is specified that all ground meat, with the exception of poultry, must be...
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Enteric diseases are a significant contributor to the overall burden of reportable illnesses in Ontario, accounting for approximately 9,500 cases in 2011. Consumption of contaminated food and water, contact with animals and their environment, and person-to-person contact constitute important modes of transmission for enteric illnesses. In this session, we will present the overall findings of a...
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