Haldimand-Norfolk loses early warning system for viral diseases

Haldimand-Norfolk has lost its early-warning system for viruses like RSV and influenza now that the province has stopped funding for wastewater testing.

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Data about the viral load present in wastewater collected at treatment plants in Simcoe and Caledonia stopped flowing to the local health unit as of Wednesday, when the province ended its wastewater surveillance program.

Tracking wastewater “provides a better picture of disease activity in the community than testing and hospitalizations (and) emergency department visits alone,” environmental health program manager Alexis Atkinson and epidemiologist Megan McCallum from the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) told The Spectator over E-mail.

Local wastewater had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic), influenza A and B, and RSV.

Samples were sent for analysis at Western University, with the results coming back to the health unit through the Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Initiative Data and Visualization Hub, run by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.

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The provincially funded program — offered at no cost to the health unit — helped officials gauge “the level of disease activity in an area at a point in time,” Atkinson and McCallum said.

Wastewater data was “not typically used to identify outbreaks in higher-risk settings” during the COVID-19 pandemic, they added. But as wastewater samples encompass both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers, testing gave the health unit a heads up about possible outbreaks.

“Wastewater can be used to assist in making informed decisions about potential public health interventions (and) help inform emergency preparedness and surge planning by identifying potential increases in disease activity,” Atkinson and McCallum said.

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In an interview with the Canadian Press, Dr. Fahad Razak, former scientific director of the COVID-19 Ontario Science Table, called the province’s decision to stop testing wastewater “incredibly disappointing,” arguing the program helped dozens of communities monitor and respond to the threat posed by viruses like COVID and avian flu.

The Environment Ministry told the Canadian Press the program was “winding down” to coincide with the Public Health Agency of Canada expanding its wastewater surveillance sites. But a spokesperson for the federal agency said the added test sites would not replace the provincial program.

That leaves Haldimand-Norfolk without a canary in the RSV coal mine as flu season nears.

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“At this time, HNHU cannot continue with wastewater testing if not provided funding for this activity, as we do not have the resources available,” Atkinson and McCallum told The Spectator.

In a statement, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles called on the Ford government to restore wastewater testing and expand the program “to monitor and prepare for future public health emergencies.”

But independent Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady told The Spectator ending the program makes sense, noting the “extra layer of surveillance” prompted by the pandemic “was not used to identify outbreak settings” in her riding.

“I trust that returning to pre-pandemic surveillance was not an easy decision,” Brady said in an email.

“However, it is the surveillance that has been in place for decades in Ontario, whereby the federal government works with our public health units and clinicians,” she said.

“I feel that returning to a normal state of affairs will perhaps allow the government to funnel these monies to vital services at this point in time.”

JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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