O. Reg. 501/17: COMMUNICABLE DISEASES - GENERAL
filed December 15, 2017 under Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7
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made under the
Health Protection and Promotion Act
Made: December 13, 2017
Filed: December 15, 2017
Published on e-Laws: December 15, 2017
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: December 30, 2017
Amending Reg. 557 of R.R.O. 1990
(COMMUNICABLE DISEASES - GENERAL)
1. Subsection 2 (1) of the Regulation 557 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 is revoked and the following substituted:
(1) A physician, registered nurse in the extended class, veterinarian, police officer or any other person who has information concerning either or both of the following shall, as soon as possible, notify the medical officer of health and provide the medical officer of health with the information, including the name and contact information of the exposed person:
1. Any bite from a mammal.
2. Any contact with a mammal that is conducive to the potential transmission of rabies to persons.
2. (1) Subsection 3 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(1) A medical officer of health who receives information under section 2 and who finds any person has been exposed to a rabid or suspected rabid animal so as to require rabies post-exposure prophylaxis shall provide information, including details of exposure and prophylaxis administered, to the Ministry.
(2) Subsection 3 (2) of the Regulation is amended,
(a) by adding “or public health inspector” after “medical officer of health” wherever it appears; and
(b) by striking out “dog or cat” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “dog, cat or ferret”.
(3) Section 3 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:
(2.1) A medical officer of health or public health inspector who is of the opinion that a horse, cow, bull, steer, calf, sheep, pig or goat may be rabid shall cause it to be confined and isolated for at least 14 days from all animals and persons, except the person caring for it,
(a) at the location where the horse, cow, bull, steer, calf, sheep, pig or goat is ordinarily housed; or
(b) at a veterinary hospital at the expense of the municipality in which the person caring for the horse, cow, bull, steer, calf, sheep, pig or goat resides if, in the opinion of the medical officer of health or public health inspector, the person is unlikely to confine and isolate it.
(4) Subsections 3 (3) and (4) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:
(3) Despite subsection (2) or (2.1), a medical officer of health or public health inspector,
(a) may require the detention of an animal for the purpose of a veterinary examination for evidence of rabies and based on the results of the examination may cause the animal to be confined and isolated for such period as is necessary to determine that the animal is free from symptoms of rabies; or
(b) may require the destruction of any animal at any time for the purpose of having a laboratory examination to determine if the animal is in the infective stage of rabies.
(4) In the case of a dog, cat or ferret, clause (3) (b) only applies where the dog, cat or ferret is unclaimed or where permission is given by the owner for the destruction of the dog, cat or ferret.
(5) Subsection 3 (6) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(6) A medical officer of health shall, as soon as possible, notify and provide particulars to the Ministry where the medical officer of health has reason to believe that an animal,
(a) is rabid; or
(b) has been in contact with another animal that is known to have rabies or that is suspected of having rabies.
(6) Subsection 3 (8) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(8) Where an animal has bitten a person or is suspected of being rabid and has had contact with a person and the animal dies or is killed prior to the completion of an appropriate observation period, the medical officer of health shall notify the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians Rabies Response Program to arrange for the collection of an animal specimen for rabies testing.
3. Clause 4 (2) (c) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(c) notify the Ministry of the extent of the infection and the action being taken.
4. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:
Avian Influenza, Novel Influenza Viruses and Echinococcus multilocularis
6.1 (1) A veterinarian or director of a laboratory who knows or suspects that a captive bird or birds or a poultry flock is infected with an avian influenza virus or that one or more animals is infected with a novel influenza virus shall notify the medical officer of health immediately, and shall provide the medical officer of health with such information and assistance with respect to the bird or birds, poultry flock, animal or animals as the medical officer of health requires, including, but not limited to,
(a) the location of the bird, birds, poultry flock, animal or animals; and
(b) contact information for the owner or owners of the bird, birds, poultry flock, animal or animals.
(2) A medical officer of health who knows or suspects that a captive bird, birds, poultry flock, or mammal species is infected with an avian influenza or novel influenza virus shall,
(a) determine the extent of the infection;
(b) act to prevent the spread of the infectious agent to humans; and
(c) notify the Ministry of the extent of the infection and the action being taken.
(3) A veterinarian or director of a laboratory who knows or suspects that one or more animals is infected with Echinococcus multilocularis shall notify the medical officer of health within one business day, and shall provide the medical officer of health with such information and assistance with respect to the animal or animals as the medical officer of health requires, including, but not limited to,
(a) the location of the animal or animals; and
(b) contact information for the owner or owners of the animal or animals.
(4) A medical officer of health who knows or suspects that one or more animals is infected with Echinococcus multilocularis shall,
(a) determine the extent of the infection;
(b) act to prevent the spread of the infectious agent to humans; and
(c) notify the Ministry of the extent of the infection and the action being taken.
(5) In this section,
“novel influenza virus” means any influenza virus not already known to be endemically circulating in Ontario’s animal species.
5. Sections 7 and 8 of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:
7. Sections 8, 9 and 10 apply to the corpse of a person who was confirmed or suspected as having one of the following infectious agents, as well as the corpse of a person who was isolated for having one of the following infectious agents:
1. Anthrax.
2. Ebola virus disease.
3. Haemorrhagic fevers.
4. Lassa fever.
5. Marburg virus disease.
6. Plague.
7. Smallpox.
8. (1) As soon as possible after death occurs, the person having custody of a corpse referred to in section 7 shall,
(a) place the corpse or cause it to be placed in at least two leak-proof body bags, each one being at least 150 µm thick; and
(b) place the corpse and the body bags in a soundly constructed casket or cremation container, or cause them to be placed in such a casket or container.
(2) Where a deceased person was infected with smallpox or anthrax, the casket or cremation container referred to in subsection (1) shall be hermetically sealed.
(3) Once a corpse has been placed in the body bags required under clause (1) (a), no person shall open the bags except as directed by the medical officer of health.
(4) A casket or cremation container referred to in subsection (1) shall,
(a) be closed immediately after the corpse is placed in it; and
(b) not be opened except as directed by the medical officer of health.
(5) No person shall remove a corpse referred to in section 7 from the location where the individual has died until there has been compliance with subsection (1) and, where applicable, subsection (2).
(6) The medical officer of health may direct that a corpse referred to in section 7 be removed directly to the place of burial or cremation.
(7) No person shall embalm a corpse referred to in section 7 or engage in its hygienic preparation.
(8) No person shall engage in the post-mortem examination of a corpse referred to in section 7, except where the examination is required by a coroner acting in accordance with the Coroners Act.
6. Sections 10 and 11 of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:
10. (1) No person shall deliver a corpse referred to in section 7 for transportation or carriage unless the following requirements are complied with:
1. The corpse must be enclosed in a soundly constructed casket or cremation container satisfactory to the medical officer of health.
2. If the corpse is being transported or carried by commercial carrier of any kind, the casket or cremation container must be enclosed in an outer case that is sufficiently strong to ensure that the casket or cremation container and the hermetical sealing, if any, will not be broken throughout the transportation or carriage of the corpse by the commercial carrier.
11. Except as provided in section 6, a reference in this Regulation to the medical officer of health means,
(a) a reference to the medical officer of health of the board of health in the health unit in which the person, animal or thing, as the case may be, referred to, resides; or
(b) a reference to the medical officer of health of the board of health in the health unit in which the person died, in the case of sections 8, 9 and 10.
Commencement
7. This Regulation comes into force on the later of January 1, 2018 and the day it is filed.
CORRECTION
This Regulation, as previously published on e-Laws, contained the following publication error:
In clause 8 (1) (a) of the Regulation, as made by section 4, “150 µm” was published as “150 mm”.
This error was corrected on April 30, 2024.