Summary findings from Tracks surveys implemented by First Nations in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada, 2018-2020.

Background: The Public Health Agency of Canada's integrated bio-behavioural surveillance system-Tracks surveys-assesses the burden of HIV, hepatitis C and associated risks in key populations in Canada. From 2018-2020, Tracks surveys were successfully implemented by First Nations Health Services Organizations in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Methods: First Nations-led survey teams invited community members who identified as First Nations, Inuit or Métis to participate in Tracks surveys and testing for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis.

Determinants of tuberculosis trends in six Indigenous populations of the USA, Canada, and Greenland from 1960 to 2014: a population-based study.

Background: Tuberculosis continues to disproportionately affect many Indigenous populations in the USA, Canada, and Greenland. We aimed to investigate whether population-based tuberculosis-specific interventions or changes in general health and socioeconomic indicators, or a combination of these factors, were associated with changes in tuberculosis incidence in these Indigenous populations.

Methods: For this population-based study we examined annual tuberculosis notification rates between 1960 and 2014 in six Indigenous populations of the USA, Canada, and Greenland (Inuit [Greenland], American Indian and Alaska Native [Alaska, USA], First Nations [Alberta, Canada], Cree of Eeyou Istchee [Quebec, Canada], Inuit of Nunavik [Quebec, Canada], and Inuit of Nunavut [Canada]), as well as the general population of Canada.

Contact investigation outcomes of Canadian-born adults with tuberculosis in Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Alberta.

Objectives: Contact investigations are a critical component of tuberculosis control in high-income countries. However, the relative success of conventional methods by population group and place of residence is unknown. This study compares outcomes of contact investigations of Canadian-born Indigenous tuberculosis cases living on- and off-reserve with other Canadian-born cases.

Emergence of new CMRSA7/USA400 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus spa types in Alberta, Canada, from 2005 to 2012.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become one of the most significant pathogens affecting global public health and health care systems. In Canada and the United States, the spread of MRSA is primarily attributed to a single dominant epidemic clone: CMRSA10/USA300. Despite this, the CMRSA7/USA400 epidemic clone has been reported to be the predominate epidemic clone in several Canadian provinces and some parts of the United States.

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in Canadian children: a national surveillance study.

Purpose: Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) is universally fatal unless treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Following the identification of disseminated Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infections in Canadian First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) children with unrecognized primary immune deficiencies, a national surveillance study was initiated in order to determine the incidence, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of children with SCID in Canada.

Methods: Canadian pediatricians were asked to complete a monthly reporting form if they had seen a suspected SCID case, from 2004 to 2010, through the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP).

The tuberculin skin test is unreliable in school children BCG-vaccinated in infancy and at low risk of tuberculosis infection.

Background: The tuberculin skin test (TST) is often used to screen for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in school children, many of whom were bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-vaccinated in infancy. The reliability of the TST in such children is unknown.

Methods: TSTs performed in low-risk BCG-vaccinated and -nonvaccinated grade 1 and grade 6 First Nations (North American Indian) school children in the province of Alberta, Canada, were evaluated retrospectively.

Cluster of cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Alberta, Canada.

In May 2005, a cluster of four hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) cases was confirmed in Alberta, Canada. The cluster is unusual given that three cases were from a single family and involved a 7-year-old child. This is the first family cluster reported in Canada and includes one of the youngest cases of HPS reported in North America.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in First Nations preschool children in Alberta: implications for BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine withdrawal.

Background: On April 1, 2004, BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin), a tuberculosis (TB) control vaccine, was discontinued in all but four high-risk communities in Alberta. To confirm the safety of vaccine withdrawal, and for future planning, the annual risk of infection (ARI) was determined in preschool First Nations children.

Methods: First Nations children born into reserve communities in Alberta between April 1, 1998 and March 31, 2004, and still living on reserve in 2004-2005, were identified.

Pediatric tuberculosis in Alberta First Nations (1991-2000): outbreaks and the protective effect of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine.

Background: The tuberculosis control strategy of vaccinating First Nations newborns with BCG (bacille Calmette-Guerin) is currently undergoing re-evaluation in Canada. Review of recent pediatric tuberculosis morbidity could inform this re-evaluation.

Methods: Potential source cases and pediatric cases of tuberculosis from Alberta First Nations were identified over the 10 years 1991-2000.

Outbreak of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Northern Alberta, Canada.

Background: In January 2001 we investigated an outbreak of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in a northern region of Alberta, Canada, and here we report on the epidemiology of the outbreak.

Goal: The goal was to examine the outbreak etiology and make recommendations for strengthening regional STD programs.

Study Design: Provincial STD notification forms were reviewed to identify cases, and a case-control study was undertaken to identify risk factors for infection.