16 First Nations clinics under construction

Construction of 16 nursing stations and health clinicsin First Nations communities is underway across Canada, thanks to$135 million in federal funding, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Tuesday.

The money,announced in the latest budget, is forbuilding and renovating nursing stations andclinics in First Nations communities, Aglukkaq said in Winnipeg.

About 16 of approximately 40 construction projects areunderway, withcompletion expected by March 2011. Another 230 or so projects are renovations to existing health services infrastructure, thegovernment said in a release.

She also responded to an editorial in Monday's Canadian Medical Association Journal that criticized the federal government's vaccine strategy for being too slow to help those at high risk, comparedwith licensing approaches in other countries.

"Canada is seen as world leaders in responding to a pandemic," Aglukkaq told a news conference.

"Of course, there's always ways to improve how we respond, and we'll continue to do that. But as we got to the fall, the vaccine will be available, and every Canadian who wants to be vaccinated will be able to be vaccinated. Again, that's very different from other countries."

Canada has also assisted the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization and Mexico and the U.S. indeveloping their pandemic plans, she said.

H1N1 versus seasonal flu

Also on Tuesday, U.S. researchers said the H1N1 swine flu seems unlikely to mix with regular seasonal flu viruses,reducing the likelihood it will mutate into a more dangerous strain.

The findings underscore the need for people to be vaccinated against H1N1, said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The study involvedferrets. When the lab animals were infected with 2009 H1N1 virus, plus either the seasonal H1N1 virus or seasonal H3N2 virus, both viruses made them sick. But only the H1N1 pandemic virus spread to other ferrets, Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland and his colleagues found.

The pandemic virus was found deeper in the ferrets' respiratory system, including the lungs, while seasonal flu strains stayed in the nasal passages. Doctors have reported similar findings for swine flu patients.

Perez's team posted the findings on PLoS Currents: Influenza, a website for rapid communication of new scientific data on flu.

On Monday, Aglukkaq said First Nations communities will be a high priority when thegovernment decides who should receive the swine flu vaccine first.

First Nations leaders are also preparing for the fall, and say fighting the virus has to be a team effort.

"We can pass on that information and see how we can perhaps work together in seeking the kind of remedy that we need at this time," said Ron Evans, head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

Thefederal government has ordered more than 50 million doses of pandemic vaccine, when it is available, for all Canadians who wish to be immunized.

But since the whole order will not be ready at once, health officials are meeting in Winnipeg this week to decidewhich groups will be first in line.

Health-care workers and pregnant women arealso likely to be high on the list, federal health officials have said.