Establishing a Surveillance, Early Warning, and Forecasting System for Avian Influenza Outbreaks in Canada

Beginning in November 2021, Canada has repeatedly contended with outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, impacting both domestic poultry and wild bird populations. These outbreaks have not only posed public health risks but also caused widespread disruption and significant economic damage within the bird farming industry. This study introduces a new digital-based surveillance approach and Early Warning System (EWS) that harnesses publicly available web data to track and anticipate avian influenza outbreaks with greater speed and efficiency.

Small but Mighty: Promoting Antimicrobial Stewardship Activities in Rural Locations 

Join us for a webinar discussing the efforts to promote antimicrobial stewardship interventions in rural locations in Canada. We will hear from a senior pharmacist in rural Saskatchewan about her experiences in promoting more appropriate antimicrobial use in the local area. Bring questions or add comments based on your experience of AMS in rural settings to help broaden perspectives.

The Farm & AMR: Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use in Food-producing Animals

Dr. Jan Sargeant helps build our One Health understanding of AMR in this episode focused on antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use in Canadian food-producing animals. The episode highlights how veterinarians and producers are working to use antibiotics responsibly, gains made, challenges that remain, and key interventions that could do more to preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials for people and animals alike.

One Health 101 – Understanding the Connection Between Humans, Animals, and the Environment in the Fight Against AMR

Dr. Jane Parmley joins NCCID for our opening episode of the Getting to Know OH mini-series to help introduce the fundamentals of the One Health concept and its relevance for public health decision-making. Dr. Parmely shares her views on the timeliness and value of a One Health approach to current challenges addressing the complex problem of AMR, as well as inspiring examples of where it is being applied.

The Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program Active (IMPACT): Surveillance of Infectious Diseases in Canadian Children

IMPACT has been active for over 30 years at 14 Canadian centres. It is responsible for surveillance of adverse events following immunizations, vaccine failures and key vaccine preventable infectious diseases. This presentation will highlight essential functions informing public health and surveillance utilizing case study examples.

CANCOVID-Preg: A Pan-Canadian Surveillance Program of Outcomes for Pregnant Women and People and their Infants who Acquired COVID-19 in Pregnancy

This presentation will provide an overview of the findings from CANCOVID-Preg, a pan-Canadian surveillance program of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy. CANCOVID-Preg includes data on >40,000 pregnancies in Canada from 2020-2022 that were impacted by COVID-19 and was utilized over the course of the pandemic to guide public health and vaccination recommendations. With this data, we have described the impact on maternal and infant health associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy, elucidated the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 variants and maternal, pregnancy, and infant outcomes, and demonstrated the protective effect of vaccination in each variant period.

Drop the Label: Penicillin Allergy de-Labelling is for Everyone

Pen-allergy de-labelling can be a powerful antimicrobial stewardship tool, clarifying options available to prescribers selecting the most appropriate antibiotic for their patients. Join leads in the BC-based multidisciplinary ‘Drop the Label’ initiative as they share successes and challenges in developing, implementing, and scaling up patient education and clinical tools to support prescribers serving people with potential antibiotic allergies.