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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-11-10, Page 1— The Citizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 21 No. 44 Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 Winds knock out power A major windstorm swept through Southwestern Ontario Sunday afternoon causing minor damage and power outages across the county. “There were a lot of dead branches down.” Huron East public works co-ordinator John Forrest said. “But [what the road crews saw] was normal after a major wind storm.” While power was out in Blyth and and area for a short time, Brussels spent the afternoon without hydro Forrest said the cause for the outage in Brussels that lasted approximately four hours is unknown to him and there was no response from Hydro One at press time. “Most likely it came from feeder lines outside the area,” he said. Flu frenzy brings frustration By Keith Roulson Citizen publisher A poultry specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has expressed frustration at the amount of misinformation about avian influenza in the media. “We face challenges with getting our message out if we can’t get the attention of the media,” said Al Dam, speaking at a poultry producer update meeting in Seaforth, Thursday. Among Dam’s complaints: “Avian influenza and pandemic are not interchangeable,” he said. A survey of bird flu in the wild duck population saw some media outlets reporting that bird flu had “arrived” in Canada. “A mild form of the H5 virus has been present in wild birds for years,” he pointed out. The survey showed under four per cent of the Quebec Solemn occasion Members of the Blyth Legion and its Ladies Auxiliary paraded to Blyth Community Church of God for the annual service of remembrance on Sunday morning. Remembrance Day services will be held this Friday in Blyth at Memorial Hall and at the cenotaph in Brussels. (Vicky Bremner photo) birds tested had the flu, under one per cent in Manitoba and 25 per cent in British Columbia. Tests on Ontario’s samples have not been completed but “we would expect positives,” Dam said. The panic caused by the spread of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza from Asia to southeastern Europe has caused a drop in consumption of poultry products there. But those humans who have been infected by bird flu are those who had close contact with poultry. No one has ever gotten sick from properly cooked meat. Dam said. Canada’s commercial poultry flocks are unlikely to be threatened even if the deadly form of bird flu did migrate to Canada through wild bird populations. Canadian poultry barns are sealed against the entry of wild birds and there is no contact between wild birds and feed or water fed to the chickens. There are only four or five range turkey operations left in Ontario with most turkeys also raised in barns, isolated from wild birds. The tight biosecurity measures on Ontario poultry farms are to protect the birds, Dam said. “They are our life, our investment, the reason we get up in the morning.” “Ontario poultry products are the safest in the world,” he said. In biosecurity protocols swine and poultry don’t mix, Dam said. Humans can catch influenza from both birds and pigs. Pigs, which are more genetically close to humans, could be the “mixing pot” for human, poultry and swine viruses to mutate into something that could affect humans. For the same reason, farmers working around poultry (and swine, too) are urged to get a flu shot. “We don’t want farmers to be having the flu and birds to be having the flu and the two strains intermixing,” Dam said. Deaths that have occurred from the H5N l strain in Asia have always been people who caught the disease from close contact with birds, he pointed out. There has never been a vertical transmission of the disease from hen to egg to chick and there has never been a human-to-human transfer which would be necessary to touch off a pandemic. “The pandemic may never happen,” Dam reminded the audience. If the H5N1 strain of avian influenza did arrive in Canada the biggest concern would be with backyard flocks and with wild birds. “Wild pigeons are a reservoir for a lot of diseases,” Dam said. Since avian flu is most often transmitted to people in close proximity to birds another concern would be companion birds, he said. Doctor needed for county homes By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor The county is under the gun to find a doctor for the county homes for the aged. Dr. Maarten Bokhout, who is currently medical director for Huronview and Huronlea announced his decision to retire from the position several months ago. At that time advertisements were placed in the local newspapers, but no doctor has stepped forward, said South Huron councillor Dave Urlin, a member of the recruitment team. “I feel it’s difficult to go outside the county to find someone to fill the position. We need a doctor in Huron to step forward and look after our senior people.” Homes administrator Barb Springall said she has been contacting everyone she could possibly think of, written letters and distributed flyers to no avail. “I am, however, very hopeful that the medical community will show support for the long-term care facilities.” While she has been reaching out to health networks the general consensus is that a local doctor would be best. “Dr. Bokhout has done an exceptional job, but he has indicated he needs to not take as much on\. We need someone to step up and take his place.” Saying that she had actually even asked her own doctor during a visit, Springall urged councillors to do what they could by talking to physicians. “There are more beds at Huronview than all five county hospitals put together. I’m sure a doctor wouldn’t leave a hospital in charge of the nurses.” The time required is about three morning a week for rounds at both homes, said Springall. Goderich councillor Deb Shewfelt wondered if the nurse practitioner couldn’t be called upon to take on some the responsibilities. Urlin said that the nurse practitioner does have a little more time to spend the “extra five minutes with a family” than the doctor does. “It is very appreciated”. In response to a question from Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh councillor Ben Van Diepenbeek regarding prescriptions, Springall said that a nurse practitioner can prescribe medications but it must be under consultation with a doctore. “They have to work under the doctor’s licence so the doctor has to be a big support.”