Tag Archives: BC Centre for Disease Control

Food, Rivers & Oceans

Oyster update

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From the Cortes Island Seafood Association

First, some relevant facts —

  1. Under the Pleasure Craft and Non-Pleasure Craft Sewage Pollution Prevention Regulations, Gorge Harbour has been a no-discharge-zone for boater sewage waste since June, 2000.
  2. Under the terms of the CSSP (Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program), the presence of actual or potential pollution sources, which includes transient boats, warrants a preventive closure recommendation.
  3. In 2012, Environment Canada made a preventive seasonal closure on the west end of the Gorge due to the presence of recreational boats; this was not a pollution event.
  4. In early Dec 2024, there was an illness report on oysters shipped from a Gorge Harbour oyster farm to Vancouver.  An illness report goes to Coastal Health, the BC Centre for Disease Control, the Canada Food Inspection Agency and back to the Federally Registered Shellfish Plant. Inspection and testing at the restaurant is done by Coastal Health. In this case, a Michelin star restaurant in Vancouver served only oysters from Gorge Harbour, ie., there were no other oysters involved.
  5. Today, we have 55+ boats anchored out, some with people living in them. And more seasonally moored liveaboards will soon be moving into the harbour.

The pressing problem now —

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Rivers & Oceans

Recent Concerns with Eating Raw Oysters; Unaffected Oysters & Areas (like Cortes)

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Editor’s note: Someone pointed out this article is too specific for International readers who, for example, may not even know where Vancouver Island is. There is a lack of specific information. I have written Fisheries and Oceans Canada, pointing out: “Most of The articles I see mention Tidal Area 14 (which is the little stretch of Vancouver Island coast between Comox and Parksville), but when I talk to Cortes growers they mention Baynes Sound, which is only a small part of Tidal Area 14. If it is only Baynes Sound, a lot of growers in other parts of Tidal Area 14 are being negatively impacted for something that is not even in their immediate vicinity. At the moment, a lot of Vancouver Island growers appear to be negatively impacted for something that is not in their Tidal Area.“

There was a 10 hour interval during which Erik Lyon of Rising Tide Oysters, on Cortes Island, thought he was going to reap big profits. Dozens of Californians had fallen ill after eating raw oysters from ‘Tidal Area 14’ in British Columbia. That’s on the east coast of Vancouver Island, between Comox and Parksville. Lyon specifically pointed to Baynes Sound, where there are oyster growers that sometimes ship 20,000 dozen oysters in a week. By way of contrast, he described most Cortes Island growers as ‘little mom and pop operations.’ 

“We’re a little bit removed from Baynes Sound. We tend to have cleaner water and a lot of the buyers can reliably pick up more product from us when the big guys go down,” he explained. 

That’s what seemed to be happening on Saturday, December 13, 2024. 

Continue reading Recent Concerns with Eating Raw Oysters; Unaffected Oysters & Areas (like Cortes) →
Health

Youth face barriers to overdose harm reduction, say front-line workers

Editor’s note: There were 47 drug related deaths in the Greater Campbell River Health Area during 2023. This is the third worst drug related death rate on Vancouver Island, only surpassed by Victoria (145) and Nanaimo (116). There were 31 drug related deaths in Greater Campbell River during 2022 and 26 in 2021. 

Greater Campbell River is a health area that stretches from the Oyster River to Sayward on the east coast of Vancouver Island, and includes Discovery Island communities like Cortes, Quadra and Read, but the epicentre of this public health emergency is the city of Campbell River.  According to BC emergency Health Services, paramedics responded to 681 drug overdose calls in Campbell River last year. The numbers have kept increasing every year since COVID arrived in March 2020 and did not decrease after the period of self distancing ended. There were 525 callouts in 2022, 404 in 2021 and 249 in 2020. In the four years prior to that, the call numbers fluctuated from a low of 152 in 2016 to a high of 230 in 2018.

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With the toxic drug crisis as the leading cause of death for British Columbians aged 10 though 59, nearly 170 youth, aged 18 and under, have lost their lives since 2017. According to experts, not enough research and monitoring has been done to assess the impacts of the crisis on young people, who also face barriers when accessing harm reduction services.

Continue reading Youth face barriers to overdose harm reduction, say front-line workers →
Animals, Health

Chronic Wasting Disease reported in the Kootenay Region

On January 31, 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that two cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) have been found south of Cranbrook, in the Kootenays. ‘The first sample came from a ‘harvested’ adult male mule deer and the second from a white-tailed doe that was struck on the road. 

CWD is a highly infectious and fatal disease, which the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention states, “affects many different species of hoofed animals including North American elk or wapiti, red deer, mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, sika deer, reindeer, and moose.”

This is the first report of CWD west of the Rocky Mountains in Canada or the United States.  

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Cost of Climate Change, Fire, Health

Wildfire Smoke Is Making Us Sick

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s early June and there are 80 wildfires burning in the province, according to the BC Wildfire Service dashboard. 

There are evacuation orders in place for areas of the Peace River Regional District, and localities close to significant fires are blanketed in smoke.  

Fires are also bringing hazy skies to  Vancouver and other areas of the province farther away from active  fires. Across the continent, smoke is coating Toronto and New York right now. 

While smoky days and even weeks might be a  regular feature of future Canadian summers, they’re not something we  should be complacent with, according to health experts. 

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