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Scientific American
a day ago
- Health
- Scientific American
Where Did Bird Flu Go?
For months, bird flu was seemingly everywhere in the U.S.: news headlines reported the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus was rapidly sweeping through hundreds of herds of dairy cattle and leading to massive culls of poultry flocks, concerning infections in humans and grocery store aisles where nary an egg could be found. But nearly as quickly as bird flu took hold in daily conversations, it disappeared from them and most people's thoughts—making it easy for the public to think avian influenza's threat had waned. Far from it, experts say. 'The flu is still there, and we just don't know enough about it,' says Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan. What made the virus apparently fade away—and what does that mean for the future of bird flu? On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. One scenario experts have definitively ruled out is that the currently circulating bird flu virus—a member of a subtype of influenza called H5N1 for the proteins on its surface—is simply vanishing on its own, says Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University. 'There has been this wishful thinking that it's just going to wipe through and be gone, and we've just not seen that, and that's just not how flu viruses work,' Nuzzo says. 'This isn't going away.' Experts are still monitoring for H5N1 avian influenza in a variety of animals: wild birds, commercial poultry animals, wild mammals, dairy cattle and humans—and finding it, albeit at lower rates. But the virus is tricky, behaving somewhat differently in each host. Here's what we know about the current state of the virus. The most reliable data on bird flu prevalence come from poultry operations. That's because the virus is so devastating in chickens and turkeys that farmers must cull flocks as soon as they detect an infection to reduce spread. They are also able to report outbreaks to the federal government to receive partial compensation. There's no way to ignore a sick flock or any incentive to hide one. And right now poultry tolls to avian influenza are relatively low. Farmers reported just three million poultry birds killed by the virus or culled to stop it in March and April combined compared with 23 million and 12 million in January and February, respectively. May saw more than five million birds dead after the virus infiltrated several massive egg-laying facilities in Maricopa County, Arizona. But June rates fell far below one million birds, and July cases to date remain very low, with just one commercial facility affected so far. These lower rates of bird flu aren't particularly surprising, given the virus's past behavior in poultry to date, says Mike Persia, a poultry specialist at Virginia Tech. 'We generally see a reduction in infections over the summer,' he says. Since the current outbreak began in early 2022, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that, each year, the monthly count of affected poultry birds has tended to dip to under five million in June, July and August. Two factors seem to contribute to the apparent seasonal trend, Persia says. The virus appears to falter in higher ambient temperatures, and the migratory wild birds that typically introduce the virus into poultry flocks aren't traveling as widely now that breeding season is in full swing. But the outbreak's history tells a cautionary tale: each autumn, the number of affected poultry birds rises again—so it would be premature to assume H5N1 is done with us. 'I'm optimistic that maybe this was the last of it, and it goes away forever. I wouldn't take the lull as proof of that, though,' says Jada Thompson, an agricultural economist at the University of Arkansas. 'We need to maintain vigilance.' Evaluating the outbreak in U.S. dairy cattle has been more difficult. Cows that are sick with bird flu eat less and produce thick and discolored milk. But the infection isn't nearly as fatal in cattle as it is in poultry, making the virus harder to see in the former. And there's no recompense for lost milk to encourage farmers to report being hit. In addition, the virus's jump into dairy cattle in late 2023 was wildly unexpected and not publicly confirmed until March 2024, giving dairy farmers and virologists little time to understand bird flu's tendencies in the species. Last year cases continued throughout the summer, particularly in the hard-hit state of Colorado. Spread proved to be difficult to contain, in part because of the movement of animals required by the dairy industry. And although the virus can be monitored through milk, officials only began mandating such testing last December, after a full year of viral circulation. This year reported infections have trailed off, with only two herds confirmed to have the virus in all of June. But it's unclear how to interpret the trend—dairy farmers, too, are left poised between caution and optimism. Throughout the outbreak, bird flu risk to humans has been low, although dairy and poultry workers with exposure to infected animals have been more vulnerable. The first detected human infection in 2024 came shortly after confirmation that dairy cattle had become sick with H5N1. Additional human cases came in flurries throughout the intervening months, totaling 70 confirmed infections, including one death, by mid-February. Since then, infection tallies at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stalled. Experts doubt that's a good thing. 'I can't rule out that part of why we're not finding infections is: we're just simply not looking for them,' Nuzzo says. Throughout the outbreak, the CDC has kept a running tally of the testing it is conducting, and those numbers paint a clear picture. As of July 1, the CDC noted that more than 880 people had been subject to targeted testing after exposure to infected animals. On March 1 that number had been more than 840; in contrast, the February 1 number was more than 660. The CDC tested more than four times as many people in February as in March, April, May and June combined. Another way experts have kept tabs on bird flu has been through existing national flu surveillance—but because normal flu infections are in a seasonal lull, so are tests through that network. The result is a lot of question marks. 'We are in sort of a perfect storm of no testing,' Rasmussen says. Even wastewater monitoring, which has proven helpful in understanding levels of the virus that causes COVID as testing rates have fallen, is of limited help. The approach looks for the presence of viruses in community water processing plants, but H5N1 is spread so broadly across species that it is nearly impossible to use these detections to definitively trace sources. 'You don't know how it got there,' Nuzzo says of the virus in wastewater. 'You don't know if people are infected; you don't know if [the virus is present] because birds were hanging out in the wastewater.' In some cases, spikes in wastewater levels of H5N1 have even been linked to farmers dumping milk from their infected cows. Nuzzo suspects that there have certainly been more human cases of avian influenza than the 70 confirmed to date but that the virus is not spreading widely. 'I don't think there's some huge iceberg of infections that we're missing,' Nuzzo says. Nuzzo and Rasmussen find that cold comfort, however. Instead they emphasize how vital it is to have as much intel as possible about what H5N1 is doing. Choosing not to seek out evidence of the virus's behavior means passing up on the opportunity to catch any early signs of a pandemic in the making. 'No news in my world is not good news,' Rasmussen says. 'We're just not collecting any data, and those are two very, very different things.' The U.S.'s current approach is simply further shrouding a situation that is already difficult to parse—given the complexity of a multispecies outbreak and the unpredictable nature of rapidly changing influenza viruses. 'This is the kind of thing that could become a pandemic tomorrow, [or] it could never become a pandemic. And I don't know which one is going to happen,' Rasmussen says. 'This is a huge risk, but it's also a risk that may never come to pass,' she says. 'But we won't know if we just stop looking for it.'
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The English prisoner
John Teunissen was an inmate at Stony Mountain Institution but he was never sentenced or even charged with any offence. His only crime? Teaching English. That's because John, who was 91 when he died on July 2, was an English professor at the University of Manitoba. In 1974, he taught what his family says was the institution's 'short-lived degree program' to inmates at the prison. Advertisement Why this ad? Those students made him an 'honourary inmate' there. John was born in Calgary and graduated from the St. Mary's Boy's High School there before spending a year as a Novice of the Congregation of St. Basil in Richmond Hill, Ont., and then officer training with the King's Own Calgary Regiment (14th Armoured). He worked with Canadian Fairbanks-Morse, a company which, among other things, sold windmill pumps to farmers, and was responsible for Lethbridge and Red Deer and the surrounding areas. But that's when John decided to go back to school and, in a sense, he never left. He graduated with both a BA and MA from the University of Saskatchewan and then went to the University of Rochester where he received his PhD in 1967. John came back to the University of Saskatchewan to begin teaching, then the University of Massachusetts, before being hired by the University of Manitoba in 1972 to be professor and head of the Department of English. Through his years of award-winning teaching John ended up being the department head three times in total. But, at the same time, John also served twice as president of what was then known as the U of M Faculty Club, as well as serving in other academic and administrative positions. John also published numerous papers, many times with his wife Evelyn Hinz, who was also a university professor. He edited the Canadian Review of American Studies for a decade, was a member of the founding editorial board of English Literary Renaissance, and was twice elected president of the Canadian Association for American Studies. But foremost, John loved teaching. For a teacher who was named an honourary prison inmate, he would have happily been 'imprisoned' in a classroom teaching English. Through the years, John didn't just teach here, but also served as a visiting professor at other universities including Dartmouth College and Bowling Green State University. As his family says: 'What he regretted most about his many other duties and activities is that they took him too much away from teaching and he felt that no memorial after death could compare with his award from the Modern Language Association of America for excellence in teaching basic courses in English, nor with the pleasure of knowing that many of the students he taught, and whose research he supervised at three universities, were themselves so successful and influential teachers in high schools, colleges and universities.' John was predeceased by his wife, and is survived by his sister, nephew and niece, adopted daughter and son, and other family members. Read more about John. How They Lived Rita Menzies taught in high schools before changing careers. For a decade, Rita, who died on June 19 at the age of 83, taught mathematics and English literature at a senior high school in Steinbach and in Winnipeg at Kelvin High School. But then Rita switched careers and began working in arts administration. She served as General Manager of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra for 25 years, and followed it by being interim operations manager and executive director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She was also festival director of the annual Agassiz Chamber Music Festival for 11 years and, until she died, she was the festival's board president. Read more about Rita. Steve Hawchuk loved the water long before he became a captain. Steve, who was 87 when he died on July 4, grew up on a farm beside the Red River and that's when his love for water began. That love for water didn't dissipate when he became an adult. That was when he and his brother bought the Paddlewheel Queen and Paddlewheel Princess in 1969, and he became a captain. In the role, Steve helped millions of people see Winnipeg from the vantage point of the water. Read more about Steve. Yaroslava Demko was a teacher and social activist. Yaroslova, who died on June 28 at the age of 84, was born in what was Western Ukraine. She later became a teacher, in what was then Poland, teaching math and physics in high school, before coming to Canada in 1966. Here she taught as a support teacher in the Winnipeg School Division, as well as as various Ukrainian schools. Yaroslava also served as president of several Ukrainian organizations, including Ukrainian Social Services, and was honoured by the Ukrainian government with several medals for her humanitarian and philanthropic work supporting the Ukrainian people including after the invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Read more about Yaroslava. Gerry Cadorath's parents started a plating business in their garage and he helped take it to the skies. Gerry, who was 63 when he died on June 25, was with Cadorath when the family founded Cadorath Aerospace in 1990. He served as president and CEO of the company since his dad retired in 2001. Read more about Gerry. A Life's Story Gerry Dorge was a businessman who was committed to the local Francophone community. Gerry was not only involved in owning Country Kitchen restaurants here, but also Canadian Publishers. Dorge participating in a meeting of Canadian Publishers. (Supplied) He was editor-in-chief of La Liberté and was CEO for Entreprises Riel. 'His legacy is that sense of service,' his son, Stephane, says. 'My dad sat on a lot of boards. What he taught me was 'Don't sit around and do nothing. If you believe in a cause, go and serve.'' Read more about Gerry's life here. Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life's story.
National Observer
5 days ago
- Health
- National Observer
Climate change is fuelling mega-floods, awakening toxic zombie chemicals
The moment Peter Ross saw floodwaters sweep across the Fraser Valley during BC's devastating 2021 floods, the ocean pollution expert and senior scientist at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation knew the water was becoming a toxic cesspool. "I was talking to people on scene, and it smelled like death, it smelled like manure, it smelled like sewage, it smelled like diesel," he recalled. Rivers, streams and drainage ditches criss-crossing the region were swelling, spilling over fields, factories, homes and highways. As the waters flowed, they were picking up hundreds of pollutants that are typically stuck on dry land or in the soil. When the floodwaters receded over the following weeks, Ross and his colleagues tested the waters for 379 chemicals, like cocaine and other pharmaceuticals, PFAS, hydrocarbons, pesticides and heavy metals. Their results showed the water was packed with enough toxins to "prompt significant concern," he said. That nightmare scenario is poised to become more common — but worse — as the climate crisis worsens, a group of experts is warning. In a report published Thursday by the UN Environment Agency, a team of researchers warn that mega-floods, like the one that swept through BC in 2021, could contaminate huge areas of land with chemicals, including some banned decades ago because they're so toxic. "In recent decades, we've come quite a long way globally in terms of chemical regulation to make sure that the chemicals we're producing, and that we're releasing into the environment, are safe," said Markus Brinkmann, a report co-author and University of Saskatchewan toxicologist. There are hundreds of sites contaminated with banned chemicals like DDT or PFAS scattered around the globe. In many cases, the harmful chemicals don't threaten people or the environment because they're locked in the ground or in riverbed sediments. But when there's a flood, those chemicals get picked up and spread through floodwaters where they can harm human health, the environment, and come at a heavy cost to clean up. "It's definitely an issue of importance that we often like to forget about, because they're buried in our rivers and streams," he said. In a report published Thursday by the UN Environment Agency, a team of researchers warn that mega-floods could contaminate huge areas of land with chemicals, including some banned decades ago because they're so toxic. Climate change, which is largely driven by burning fossil fuels, will make intense rainfall more common, increasing the severity of flooding worldwide. Poor land- and water-management practices could exacerbate the problem, and without adaptive measures, flood damage could be about 20 times more severe, the report notes. Floods caused an average of $800 million annually in insured losses in Canada between 2019 and 2023. Insurers estimate that for every dollar of insured loss, people are shouldering about two dollars' worth of uninsured losses. The presence of toxic chemicals could make those impacts even more severe, the authors note. Take the US: In 2021, a House committee estimated that nearly 60 per cent of the country's non-federal superfund sites (heavily contaminated waste sites) are in areas vulnerable to floods and other natural disasters. In 2017, flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey carried over three tonnes of mercury from legacy industrial deposits into Galveston Bay, Texas, harming marine ecosystems. Tracking the places where toxic chemicals are buried in the soil or sediment before a flood, then trying to guide floodwaters to minimize their potential to contaminate the environment, can help reduce the risk. So can using bioremediation to get the chemicals out of the environment, or capping contaminated areas with concrete to reduce the risk of toxins getting into the water, said Brinkmann. Building more green infrastructure and better buffer zones between water and land that can absorb floodwaters could also help, said Ross, the ocean pollution expert. He was "really struck" how the lack of riparian buffers in the Fraser Valley — a problem caused in part because farms are exempted from riparian buffer laws — exacerbated the impact of the 2021 floods. "At the end of the day, all of this runoff from land and all of these pollutants from human activities end up in the water. They're going downstream. They're getting into food webs, and they're presenting a real risk," he said.
Hamilton Spectator
08-07-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Two Ecole St. Mary graduates win Governor General's Academic Medals at USask
Two graduates of Ecole St. Mary High School received some significant recognition at the University of Saskatchewan's Spring Convocation on June 2. Spence Dmytruk and Grayson Tourney each received the Governor General's Academic Medals, Dmytruk in Kiniesiology and Tourney in Biomedical Neuroscience. Governor General's Academic Medals are among the highest honours awarded to outstanding Canadian scholars at all levels of academia. The Governor General's Silver Medal is presented to the student who achieves the highest overall academic standing based on their Graduation Grade Point Average (GGPA) in a degree program. Tourney and Dmyutruk are both going back to school to study medicine and were co-Valedictorians in 2021 at St. Mary with Seth LeMoal. Tourney also received the university medal in Biomedical Neuroscience. Both Tourney and Dmytruk said the accomplishment reflected more than the work they did. 'It meant a lot,' Tourney said. 'For me it was the culmination of four years of schooling and it reflects grades only, but I think to me it reflects a lot of work ethic that I've cultivated and it reflects the support that I've had from friends and family.' 'It reflects the effort of a community and not just myself,' he added. 'For me is a really big, incredible honour,' Dmytruk added. 'I was definitely very excited to receive that kind of recognition, but I really do think it was less so a testament of my own abilities or anything like that. It was more so about the community that supported me along the way.' Dmytruk said everyone on his academic journey helped him achieve the award. 'Whether that was teachers in Prince Albert, faculty and staff at the University of Saskatchewan, friends and family, I feel like I definitely couldn't have done this without all the support I've received. I really do see it as representative of all the support I have had along the way.' Tourney said he was interested in health sciences coming out of high school, which led him to Biomedical Neuroscience. He liked learning about the brain and the nervous system, so the subject was a perfect fit. He said going into medicine will extend that interest even further. 'I'm very happy that I've done it because it is kind of my greatest interest,' he explained. Tourney said that having two Valedictorians from the same class was a positive reflection of Prince Albert. 'It goes to show that there's a lot of talent in Prince Albert and that, obviously, there's great things that people coming out of PA can do,' he said. Dmytruk said it was a nice touch to receive an award alongside his former St. Mary classmate once again. 'It was pretty cool. I think it's kind of neat too, how we were both at St. Mary. We took different paths and undergrad and we're coming back to medicine in the fall together. It's kind of cool that we took different paths but like ended up in the same place.' Tourney also credited Ecole St. Mary for helping him along the way. 'There's amazing staff and I'm so eternally grateful for the education I received there. That set the foundation for university. Students there, I hope, realize how blessed they are to have to have the teachers and the support staff there at St. Mary because they're great,' he said. Dmytruk will pursue medicine after studying Kinesiology. He said the subject gave him exposure to a lot of different aspects of health and wellness. 'I think it gave me a very balanced kind of perspective,' he explained. 'I got to have a lot of different opportunities within my college. I think I decided medicine was the place for me. 'I really do think it came down to getting an exposure in a lot of different areas through my classes and like being in my college. I think that's really just (what) threw me towards medicine and being able to make a difference in the community I'm working in.' Dmytruk said the award win is also shows how many positives there are in Prince Albert. 'It was definitely a pretty cool to receive that kind of recognition and (I) definitely owe a lot to the opportunities that Prince Albert gave me growing up,' he said. editorial@ Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
26-06-2025
- Health
Many Canadians experience hearing loss and don't know it. Here's how to prevent and treat it
Martha Perusse still remembers the day two decades ago when she wore hearing aids for the first time, at the age of 48. I picked them up and went right back to work. I was walking around the building and I thought, 'This has to be wrong,' said Perusse, 69, who lives in Montreal and is a peer mentor for Hear Quebec (new window) , a non-profit that provides programs and services to those affected by hearing loss. She couldn't believe what she was hearing with the new devices: a hum from the overhead lights; her pants rubbing together on her legs; people in faraway offices talking on the phone. Perusse is among the 37 per cent of Canadian adults (new window) who have hearing loss. Many more Canadians over age 40 have high-frequency hearing loss and aren't aware of it. Experts say that losing your hearing and not getting that loss treated can lead to social isolation, loneliness and even cognitive decline (new window) . Hearing aids can help, and there are ways to prevent hearing loss in the first place. Hearing loss can lead to social isolation Untreated hearing loss can lead to relationship issues and social isolation — a major problem for older adults, said Dr. Paul Mick, an otolaryngologist and associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan. They may avoid social situations because they're having a hard time understanding what people are saying and they find that very embarrassing. Perusse has seen that happen first-hand to the people she mentors through Hear Quebec. It's amazing how many times people just drop off their friendships because they don't understand them and they find it too frustrating, Perusse said. It's really important to preserve your brain and preserve the relationships that you have. How to protect your hearing It's essential for adults over the age of 30 to check their hearing every few years, and more frequently once you hit 50, according to audiologist Emma LeBlanc, co-owner of the Munk Hearing Centre clinics at Toronto General Hospital. Just like we go to the dentist routinely, just like we go to the eye doctor routinely, we really should be checking our hearing, LeBlanc told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC's The Dose (new window) . The sooner you start wearing hearing aids after hearing loss, the easier it will be to adapt to them, experts say. (Iurii Chornysh/Shutterstock) Photo: (Iurii Chornysh/Shutterstock) You can get a hearing test from an audiologist (new window) . Experts recommend wearing earplugs whenever you're exposed to loud sounds, including concerts, mowing the lawn or using power tools. Those can range from simple foam earplugs from the drugstore to custom-made earplugs designed for musicians, said LeBlanc. Listening to music at high volumes can lead to hearing loss, and experts recommend using an app to limit the volume (new window) on your phone. Noise-cancelling headphones can also prevent unsafe listening, said LeBlanc, so that you don't need to turn your music up to compensate for a noisy environment such as a bus or subway. That workout could protect your hearing Regular exercise could also help your hearing. Hearing isn't a passive physiological process. It's actually highly metabolic. The inner ear is sort of like a battery that's constantly recharging itself, said Mick. The inner ear converts sound energy into electrical signals that travel to the brain, explained Mick, a process that takes a lot of energy. There's a lot of blood flow through the inner ear. So anything that affects cardiovascular health, it's likely going to affect the inner ear, said Mick, who has done research into the association between cardiovascular risk factors and hearing. Studies have shown that people with heart disease are more likely to experience greater rates of hearing loss (new window) . Adapting to hearing aids It took Perusse a few months to get used to her hearing aids. For some of the people she mentors who are new to hearing aids, she said it can can take longer to adjust. There's a definite reluctance from some people to admit they have hearing loss, said Perusse — or to wear their hearing aids if they have them. That's the danger, I think, of not getting hearing aids — is that your world just gets quieter and quieter, she said. WATCH / What would it take for over-the-counter hearing aids to come to Canada? Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? What over-the-counter hearing aids in the U.S. could mean for Canadians Hearing aids are now available south of the border in such stores as Best Buy and WalMart for as little as $200 US per pair. Experts say the sooner you start wearing hearing aids after losing your hearing, the easier it will be to adapt to them. Hearing aids are not like glasses, so you don't just put them on and go about your business, said LeBlanc. If you're in a group setting, the hearing aids are going to increase the volume of everything. And so we're really working with your brain with hearing aids, she said. The more people wear their hearing aid, the more they get used to their hearing aid, the more successful they are going to be long-term in these more complex environments. There are different kinds of hearing aids — depending on the type of hearing loss and people's esthetic preferences — including ones with a piece that goes behind the ear, and others that fit only within the ear itself. 'Life can be so much easier' Though hearing loss is more common in older adults, more than one billion young people (new window) between ages 12 and 34 are at risk for hearing loss because of unsafe listening practices, according to the World Health Organizarion. (new window) Those practices include spending time in loud bars or clubs, and listening to music too loudly on your phone. Ashley Mayoff, 25, serves as the young adult representative on the board of Hear Quebec, and understands the struggles of young people with hearing loss. Growing up, we're just taught that we need to be ashamed of it and it's something that we have to hide, said Mayoff, who was born with hearing loss in both ears. Mayoff has worn hearing aids all her life and for the past 10 years has had two bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHA). A BAHA, a type of hearing aid that conducts sound by vibration through the skull, is attached to a small post surgically placed behind the ear. Mayoff's advice to other young people with hearing loss? Get the treatment you need and access the services that are available. Life can be so much easier. It doesn't have to be so hard, where you can't hear and you struggle and you feel alone, said Mayoff. The inner ear converts sound energy into electrical signals that travel to the brain, explained Mick, a process that takes a lot of energy. There's a lot of blood flow through the inner ear. So anything that affects cardiovascular health, it's likely going to affect the inner ear, said Mick, who has done research into the association between cardiovascular risk factors and hearing. Studies have shown that people with heart disease are more likely to experience greater rates of hearing loss (new window) . Isabelle Gallant (new window) · CBC News
