This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here . The rapid-fire spread of bird flu, an evolving toxic drug supply and the political response to it, plus the rise and expanding use of medications like Ozempic.
These are some of the top medical stories we plan to cover in 2025. We will also report on health-care topics, like how more than five million Canadian adults struggle to find a regular health-care provider and the challenges of vaccinating for preventable illnesses in children and adults alike. Keeping tabs on H5N1 bird flu in North America Flu watchers say they'll continue to keep a close eye on the pandemic potential of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in 2025.
The virus continues to spread among U.S. dairy cattle and decimate Canadian poultry.
It was found most recently in ringed seals in Nunavut and has infected dozens of people with mostly mild illness. "If the virus adapts to a new host and mutates such that it's able to spread person to person, it would be a big deal," Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, said on CBC's The Dose.
A respiratory virus that spreads easily between humans poses a major health risk, especially if it also causes severe disease. WATCH | WHO calls for 'much stronger' H5N1 surveillance in animals : WHO says 'much str.
