Canada ill-equipped to deal with exotic, new diseases: report
OTTAWA — Canada is poorly prepared to contain outbreaks of dangerous diseases and lacks an effective method to track people who may be infected, says a newly released Defence Department study.
The report, obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, also recommends isolating Canadian troops who’ve served in high-risk disease areas at an offshore holding site for 21 days to prevent the entry of deadly viruses into the country.
“Canada as a whole is poor on all containment matters, as evidenced by the recent spread of SARS within Ontario hospitals,” concludes the study produced last year by the Defence Science Advisory Board.
It noted what it called significant gaps in dealing with exotic or new diseases. The board said it believes Canada needs a better system of surveillance for both animals and humans who may come down with unusual illnesses. It also recommends improving the tracking of individuals who may have exotic diseases.
“In some provinces in Canada, hospitals seeing exotic symptoms take travel histories but do not record the address (permanent or temporary) of the patient, so tracking is hopeless,” added the study, obtained under the Access to Information law.
The Defence Science Advisory Board, made up of experts drawn from industry and academia, provides independent advice to the Defence Department.
The board said troops serving in areas where there have been incidents of highly transmittable viruses, such as Ebola or Lassa fevers, should be quarantined for 21 days before being allowed to return to Canada. It noted the incubation period for any new or virulent viral disease is unlikely to be longer than three weeks.
“ We strongly support such a third- site firewall approach for deployments to some areas of Africa, Asia and South America,” the report stated.
The board acknowledged such a policy would prevent “ dignitaries looking for photo-ops” from visiting such military missions overseas since the politicians would also need to be quarantined and couldn’t afford spending three weeks in isolation.
But Col. Jean-Robert Bernier, the military’s director of force health protection, said there’s no need for such a procedure. Troops are carefully screened and monitored on health issues before, during, and after they return to Canada, he said.
“Because we have such an extensive and centrally controlled health protection system for soldiers, arguably we have greater control over the health surveillance of our troops than [authorities] have of the civilian population,” Bernier said.
The science advisory board also recommended communication between federal agencies and the provinces about disease outbreaks be improved. Bernier said some of the board’s findings are out of the jurisdiction of the Defence Department.
The study also called on the department to support the creation of a specialized lab for rapid, highquality testing for exotic dangerous diseases. According to the report, the military had a containment unit for hemorrhagic fevers but no longer operates such a facility.
ernier, however, noted that a federal-run lab in Winnipeg is considered one of the best in the world to deal with certain diseases such as Ebola, so there is no need to duplicate that. In addition, defence scientists are able to provide support for such efforts.
“ We already have access to a pretty extensive capability in Canada and the support of allies,” he said.
The science board also recommended the military improve coordination with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and other organizations to deal with the potential spread of animal and plant diseases brought into the country by units returning from overseas. It noted the Canadian Forces had inadvertently been the source of significant infestations of the Asian gypsy moth, a pest with the potential to devastate the forest industry.
Moth eggs had infested military shipping containers and equipment sent from Europe to Canada.
“One can expect similar problems in the future as Canada returns staff and equipment from countries with multiple endemic disease and pest problems,” the report warned.
Bernier said the Defence Department has an advisory committee to handle such problems and works closely with government agencies in dealing with the issue.
Ottawa Citizen