COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report
BACKGROUND: In April 2020, British Columbia experienced its first outbreak of COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community. The objective of this paper was to describe the outbreak, including epidemiological and laboratory findings, and the public health response. METHODS: This report summarizes an...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:8648348 2023-05-15T16:15:17+02:00 COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report Smith, Courtney R. Enns, Charmaine Cutfeet, Dan Alfred, Shannon James, Nicole Lindbeck, Jennifer Russell, Shannon 2021-11-30 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8648348/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34848548 https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20210054 en eng CMA Joule Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8648348/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34848548 http://dx.doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20210054 © 2021 CMA Joule Inc. or its licensors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original publication is properly cited, the use is noncommercial (i.e., research or educational use), and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ CC-BY-NC-ND CC-BY-NC CMAJ Open Research Text 2021 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20210054 2021-12-19T01:39:40Z BACKGROUND: In April 2020, British Columbia experienced its first outbreak of COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community. The objective of this paper was to describe the outbreak, including epidemiological and laboratory findings, and the public health response. METHODS: This report summarizes an outbreak of COVID-19 on Cormorant Island, British Columbia, in March and April 2020. Confirmed cases underwent investigation and contact tracing. Supports were provided to ensure successful isolation and quarantine for cases and contacts. Messaging to the community was circulated by trusted community members. Descriptive and social network analyses were conducted to describe the outbreak as it evolved. All case specimens underwent whole-genome sequencing. RESULTS: Thirty cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were identified. Those infected had a median age of 34 years (range 15–77), and the majority identified as female (19, 63%) and as First Nations (27, 90%). The most common symptoms included chills, cough, diarrhea, headache and fever. Five people were hospitalized (17%) and 1 died (3%). Percent positivity in the community was 18%. Transmission occurred primarily during evening social gatherings and within households. Two weeks after control measures were initiated, no further cases were identified. All cases were genetically related by 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms or fewer, and they belonged to the most dominant SARS-CoV-2 lineage present in British Columbia in April 2020. INTERPRETATION: A community-led response was essential for the effective containment of this outbreak that included 30 cases, preventing onward transmission of the virus. Lessons learned from the management of this outbreak can inform response to other similar outbreaks in First Nations communities across Canada. Text First Nations Cormorant Island PubMed Central (PMC) British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada Cormorant Island ENVELOPE(73.314,73.314,-52.976,-52.976) CMAJ Open 9 4 E1073 E1079 |
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Research Smith, Courtney R. Enns, Charmaine Cutfeet, Dan Alfred, Shannon James, Nicole Lindbeck, Jennifer Russell, Shannon COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report |
topic_facet |
Research |
description |
BACKGROUND: In April 2020, British Columbia experienced its first outbreak of COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community. The objective of this paper was to describe the outbreak, including epidemiological and laboratory findings, and the public health response. METHODS: This report summarizes an outbreak of COVID-19 on Cormorant Island, British Columbia, in March and April 2020. Confirmed cases underwent investigation and contact tracing. Supports were provided to ensure successful isolation and quarantine for cases and contacts. Messaging to the community was circulated by trusted community members. Descriptive and social network analyses were conducted to describe the outbreak as it evolved. All case specimens underwent whole-genome sequencing. RESULTS: Thirty cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were identified. Those infected had a median age of 34 years (range 15–77), and the majority identified as female (19, 63%) and as First Nations (27, 90%). The most common symptoms included chills, cough, diarrhea, headache and fever. Five people were hospitalized (17%) and 1 died (3%). Percent positivity in the community was 18%. Transmission occurred primarily during evening social gatherings and within households. Two weeks after control measures were initiated, no further cases were identified. All cases were genetically related by 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms or fewer, and they belonged to the most dominant SARS-CoV-2 lineage present in British Columbia in April 2020. INTERPRETATION: A community-led response was essential for the effective containment of this outbreak that included 30 cases, preventing onward transmission of the virus. Lessons learned from the management of this outbreak can inform response to other similar outbreaks in First Nations communities across Canada. |
format |
Text |
author |
Smith, Courtney R. Enns, Charmaine Cutfeet, Dan Alfred, Shannon James, Nicole Lindbeck, Jennifer Russell, Shannon |
author_facet |
Smith, Courtney R. Enns, Charmaine Cutfeet, Dan Alfred, Shannon James, Nicole Lindbeck, Jennifer Russell, Shannon |
author_sort |
Smith, Courtney R. |
title |
COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report |
title_short |
COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report |
title_full |
COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report |
title_fullStr |
COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report |
title_full_unstemmed |
COVID-19 in a remote First Nations community in British Columbia, Canada: an outbreak report |
title_sort |
covid-19 in a remote first nations community in british columbia, canada: an outbreak report |
publisher |
CMA Joule Inc. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8648348/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34848548 https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20210054 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) ENVELOPE(73.314,73.314,-52.976,-52.976) |
geographic |
British Columbia Canada Cormorant Island |
geographic_facet |
British Columbia Canada Cormorant Island |
genre |
First Nations Cormorant Island |
genre_facet |
First Nations Cormorant Island |
op_source |
CMAJ Open |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8648348/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34848548 http://dx.doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20210054 |
op_rights |
© 2021 CMA Joule Inc. or its licensors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original publication is properly cited, the use is noncommercial (i.e., research or educational use), and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
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CC-BY-NC-ND CC-BY-NC |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20210054 |
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CMAJ Open |
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9 |
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4 |
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E1073 |
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E1079 |
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