The first death from the H5N1 Avian Flu in North America has been confirmed in Canada.
Canadian public health officials did not release the identity of the victim but said they had been in China before flying to Vancouver on December 27th. They had reported being ill when they were on the flight from Beijing.
The patient was admitted to the hospital on New Year’s Day and died two days later.
Officials have contacted everyone on the Beijing to Vancouver flight for immediate testing for H5N1 but believe there is a very low risk to the flight passengers because of the rarity of human-to-human transmission.
“The risk of getting H5N1 is very low,” Health Minister Rona Ambrose said. “This case is not part of the seasonal flu, which circulates in Canada every year.”
In addition to the flight passengers, close contacts of the victim and the healthcare workers that treated them are also being screened for the virus.
Canadians are experiencing a rare phenomenon as part of the polar vortex that has descended over the central part of North America.
Meteorologists call the incidents “frost quakes” and they can produce a sound as strong as a sonic boom.
The “quakes” happen when ice and rain seep into the ground and then the temperature falls so low that it freezes, causing the earth to split open as during an earthquake.
The phenomenon shocked residents of Toronto who thought someone was breaking into their homes or that gunfire had erupted in their neighborhoods. Toronto police reported hundreds of calls from worried residents over loud, unexplained noises.
Some residents told London’s Daily Mail that the quakes were strong enough to wake them from sleep and make dishes rattle.
An epic winter blast has brought temperatures in parts of Canada below temperatures on an uninhabited planet.
The Mars Curiosity Rover reported a high temperature on Mars Tuesday of -20 degrees. The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada did not reach a high of -20 degrees until after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The temperature in the city was so cold throughout most of the day that exposed skin can freeze in less than five minutes.
Meteorologists in the province said that wind chills in the northern parts of the province made it feel around -50 degrees throughout the day Tuesday.
Surprisingly, the Mars-matching temperature was not the record for coldest day in Canadian history. The historical mark for December 30th is -36 degrees.
Canada’s Supreme Court voted unanimously Friday to strike down all of the country’s anti-prostitution laws.
Anyone in Canada will be able to engage in prostitution in any form and be free to own & operate a brothel in the country. The order from the court has been placed on a one-year hold to give the Parliament an opportunity to respond with new legislation.
The laws struck down make it illegal to run a brothel; to live off the avails of prostitution and soliciting on the street for prostitution.
An appeals court in Ontario had previously struck down the brothel ban saying it exposed women to more danger.
Sex trade workers across the country celebrated the ruling.
Canada’s southern Pacific coast rattled Sunday with a moderate earthquake.
The 5.7 magnitude quake struck around 6:20 a.m. local time about 96 miles of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. Continue reading →
Canadian police say that sixty people are now missing and feared dead after a freight train carrying crude oil exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.
Officials ruled out terrorism as a cause of the runaway train but said that criminal negligence is under investigation. The entire downtown area of Lac-Megantic is considered a crime scene. Continue reading →
Heavy rain deluged Toronto, Canada Monday dumping an average month’s worth of rain on the city in one day. At the Pearson International Airport, the rainfall topped the previous one-day record from 1954’s Hurricane Hazel.
Officials say that over 3.5 inches of rain fell Monday. The rain caused flooding throughout the city including major roads and subway stations causing major traffic problems. Hundreds of commuter train passengers were stranded and had to be rescued by police boats. Continue reading →
A British Columbia couple has been arrested on terrorism charges after attempting a Boston Marathon-style terrorist attack on Canada Day.
John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Marie Korody were inspired by al-Qaeda ideology but were “self-radicalized” according to RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia. He insisted the plot was only a domestic attack with no international cooperation. Continue reading →
Flood waters have been inundating parts of southern Alberta, Canada and cities along the South Saskatchewan River are preparing for more.
Over 10,000 residents of Medicine Hat have been evacuated as officials expect the river to crest at record levels and essentially split the town. The Trans-Canada Highway bridge which joins the northern and southern parts of the city is expected to be underwater Sunday night. Continue reading →
Two foreign men living in Canada have been charged with plotting to blow up a passenger train with support from Al-Qaeda in Iran.
Officers with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police took Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, into custody Monday. The two men have been charged in connection with a plot to derail a VIA passenger train in the Toronto area. Continue reading →
