Announcing the Summer Webinar of the National Pharmaceutical Congress: "Pharma's Purpose, People & Process Post-Covid. Who Will Thrive? Who Will Be Left Behind?" Featured panellists are Ronnie Miller, Hoffman-La Roche; Mike Egli, Aspen Healthcare Canada; Claude Perron, Amicus Therapeutics; Danielle Portnik, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals; Peter Brenders, Kontollo Health [lead panellist]; Mitch Shannon, Chronicle Companies [host.] Mark the date of Tuesday, June 23, 11:00 to noon (EDT.) Registration is free. Space is limited. Sign up here.
Come here, Petunia. That’s a good girl. A German Shepherd in New York state is the first dog to be diagnosed with Covid-19 in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Shepherd experienced respiratory symptoms and was diagnosed after one of its owners tested positive for Covid-19. (Another dog in the household was not affected.) The USDA said that while there is no evidence animals play a significant role in spreading the virus, it appears that people with Covid-19 can spread the virus to animals during close contact. A pooch once believed to be the first in the U.S. to test positive for coronavirus has been cleared, and never actually had the disease, the USDA confirms.
While researchers in the U.K. and other countries continue to test and train dogs to detect coronavirus (DCF passim), it was big news in early April when Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to ban the consumption of cats and dogs. Now the Chinese government has finally officially removed Rover from the roasting pan. As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, dogs were deleted from the national list of livestock and reclassified as pets. The government’s move is in response to the information that the coronavirus could have been transmitted to humans through the so-called wet markets of Wuhan where pangolins and bats were sold and dogs and cats killed for their meat.
Duelling government bureaucracies: New interpretations of Canadian travel restrictions related to Covid-19 have created headaches for animal rescue groups and put the lives of the animals they save in jeopardy. The problem was brought to light by Redemption Paws of Toronto, a group that typically transports 120 dogs per month from kill shelters in the U.S. to be adopted in Canada. As recently as early May, Redemption Paws volunteers imported 24 abandoned dogs from Texas. At that time, the Canada Border Services Agency determined that all animal rescue groups were commercial enterprises and permitted to cross the border. That ruling was then countermanded by a Public Health Agency of Canada memo that claimed animal rescues should be put on hold during Covid-19. The result was a stand-off, with Redemption Paws and similar organizations caught in the middle. When reported by the Toronto Sun newspaper, a government official stepped in to settle the turf war in favour of the animal rescue groups, and the volunteers were declared to be essential travellers.
COVID CHRONICLE 06/08/2020
- Blood pressure therapies are linked to lower Covid-19 mortality, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal. While patients with high blood pressure do have twice the death rate and are more likely to require mechanical ventilation than those without hypertension, the study shows patients taking any type of hypertensive medication have a significantly lower risk of dying as a consequence of Covid-19.
- Winners of the Covid-19 Open Innovation Challenge organized by Roche Canada were announced on June 2. The program from the Mississauga, Ont.-based company pledged $900,000 to fund 11 solutions to problems posed by Covid-19, chosen from over 800 submissions from across Canada.
- Researchers from the Netherlands suggest that Vitamin K found in some cheeses could help patients with Covid-19. Clinicians studying patients who were admitted to the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital in Nijmegen reported that many patients who have died or admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 were deficient in Vitamin K and that a dietary approach may be of benefit in Covid patients. The researchers are organizing a clinical trial.
- The corrosive effects of tear gas deployed during demonstrations could make people more susceptible to respiratory illnesses such as Covid-19, according to a researcher at Duke University in Durham, N.C. and reported in the New York Times. In addition to damaging the lungs, ingestion of the gas can also cause prolonged coughing that may spread the virus.
STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY
Senior Editor John Evans is interviewing Montreal dermatologist Dr. Denis Sasseville regarding a retrospective study on contact allergy to Fragrance Mix II and hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde, conducted by the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group.
RIGHT NOW WE ARE (RE-)READING...
Some of the classics by Charles Dickens can seem strangely prescient, and reinforce a reader’s sense that humanity has been through problems like Covid before, and will make it through again. This reader has been revisiting some favourites by Dickens, including Great Expectations, followed by Bleak House. But this quote from A Tale of Two Cities remains a particularly haunting summary in these Covid-19 times, some 150 years after Dickens penned the words:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
TONIGHT WE ARE WALKING...
We’re heading out on the trail along the west side of the Humber River between Dundas Street and Old Mill in Toronto (Home Smith Park). The cooler breeze along the river is welcome and invigorating. My beagles may be determined to take a familiar detour past the pet food store, where their habit is to stare through the windows at the bounty piled high. You never know, there may be a goodie or two waiting for them when we get back home, if they are good girls.
HOW WAS YOUR DAY?
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That's it for now. Stay in touch, stay safe and enjoy your Monday. Publisher Mitch Shannon will take over this space tomorrow.
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