Your World Tonight - Tracking hantavirus, HIV public health emergency, Franklin expedition remains identified, and more

Episode Date: May 7, 2026

Public health officials around the world are working to trace passengers of a cruise ship where hantavirus was detected. Three people in Canada are isolating. Two of them were on the cruise ship before the outbreak was identified.And: Manitoba declares the spread of HIV a public health emergency. The province has some of the highest HIV rates in Canada.Also: After years of searching, testing, and academic debate… a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo say they have definitively identified the remains of four sailors belonging to the doomed Franklin Expedition.Plus: Bell work from home legal battle, natural resource expedited approvals, former Alberta Premier wants to know how his personal info was allegedly leaked and showcased at a meeting for separatists, and more.

Okay, three songs. You guess who there by. Three little birds, one love, and jamming. Yeah, that was a really hard quiz. These are all, of course, by Bob Marley. A whole lot of the world felt close to Bob and his music before and after his passing. But the guy who really knew him best was his son, Ziggy. On Q, Ziggy Marley will tell you about his new record and about the song he says, connect him to his late father, Bob Marley.

You can hear that conversation now. Just search Q with Tom Power wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. We are getting regular updates on not only these two individuals, but preparing to see if there are any other individuals who could perhaps return to Canada and Ontario. Health officials say it's like trying to put together a puzzle without knowing where all the pieces are,

tracking who left a cruise ship before a deadly Hanta virus outbreak, tracing their contacts, getting their contacts, getting them to isolate and reassuring the public that this is not another COVID-19. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Skandaris. It's Thursday, May 7th, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast? Generally speaking, it's absolutely up to the employer to require an employee to work in a physical space.

Ordered back to the office? Now out of work. Bell fires employees and managers for faking their attendance. The workers say they were trying to navigate. the rules while still getting their work done, and they plan to sue. Three Canadians are in isolation tonight in connection to a rare and deadly Hanta virus outbreak on a cruise ship. Four Canadians are still on board that ship. And as Chris Brown tells us, health officials around the world are scrambling to stop the respiratory virus from spreading further,

while also trying to reassure the public. I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. It's hard not to immediately think of COVID with the worrying outbreak of another deadly virus. Let's jump from animals to humans. But the World Health Organization's top pandemic preparedness official, Maria Van Kierkovo, says the risk in this situation is low. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship. This strain of hantavirus, known as the Andes virus, is typically found in South America.

It can jump from rodents to people through droppings. and then in rare cases, it can be transmitted between people who have close contact. Naturally, there's concern where the ship is expected to dock on Sunday in Tenerife on the Canary Islands. Everyone's worried. The last thing they want is for the virus to spread further, said a representative for the port workers' union. WHO chief Tedros Adnom Gabrizes says the strain also has a long incubation period, up to six weeks. It's possible that more cases may be reported. The voyage of the M.V. Hondias began at the southern tip of Argentina and the cruise headed northwards.

Authorities believe a Dutch couple likely brought the virus on board. One of them died on the ship and the other in South Africa. A third victim, a German woman, also died on the ship and her body has yet to be removed. The WHO helped evacuate three other people when the ship stopped off Cape Verde. They were airlifted to the Netherlands. Five other people are either confirmed or suspected of being infected. Four Canadians remain on the ship. We now know two others got off on the island of St. Helena

and flew home before they knew what they were dealing with. They've been told to self-isolate, as has another Canadian who was not on the ship, but was on the same flight as them. Van Kerkhov says Canada is among more than a dozen countries now working to contain the spread. The countries themselves, whether it's through the ministries or through the agencies in the countries, are actually assessing each person case by case, looking at what type of exposure did they have,

are they developing any symptoms? As for the 100 or so people still on board, authorities say they're in good health, although some are stressed as they remain quarantined in their cabins. Thankfully, everyone's doing well and we're healthy, said a Turkish passenger. Spain says as soon as the cruise ship docks, passengers will be isolated and send home as quickly as possible. Countries such as the UK and the United States say they may send special flights to get people. Chris Brown, CBC News, London. No word yet on whether Ottawa might arrange a special flight for the Canadians on board that cruise ship.

And as for the three others in isolation here at home, two of them are in Ontario. One is in Quebec. Tashana Reid tells us how health officials here are. are handling the situation. The incubation and monitoring period will likely be in the 30-day period. Ontario's health minister, Sylvia Jones, says two Canadians who disembarked the MV Hondias,

the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak, are back home in isolation. The two individuals are, in fact, Ontario residents, and they are actively being monitored and working with the local public health authorities to make sure that the isolation is occurring. When exactly they landed back in Canada, is unclear. The two passengers were part of a group that got off the cruise ship

when it stopped in the South Atlantic on the island of St. Helena on April 24th. At that point, one passenger had died, but the cause was unknown. It is believed that they are not in any way a risk of transmission, but it is fluid. Ottawa confirmed a third Canadian is being monitored in Quebec. That person was not a passenger on the cruise ship, but traveled on a flight and may have come into contact with a symptomatic individual. All three are asymptomatic, in isolation, and being monitored by local health authorities. Still, four Canadians remain on board the cruise ship, now en route and scheduled to dock in the Canary Islands in coming days. We are staying coordinated on the protocols.

In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Onan says they have been in touch, with the Canadian passengers over email and adds that Canadian government officials will be there to meet them once the ship arrives. I have deployed consular officials who are currently on route to Tenerife. The consular support will be in place when the ship reaches port.

Until then, health officials are trying to quell concerns about risks to the public. There's very minimal risk of this spreading beyond the cases that have been identified. Bryce Warner is a research scientist at the vaccine and infectious disease organization at the University of Saskatchewan. He says the biology of hantavirus

is different than a virus like influenza or COVID and replicates much slower, making it harder to transmit. We really only see person-to-person transmission in tight quarters and close spaces for prolonged periods of time and usually with quite ill individuals and not in cases where people are asymptomatic. As of now, it's unclear how the four Canadians still on the ship will be brought back home.

The vessel is expected to reach its final destination this weekend. Tashana Reid, CBC News, Toronto. A sharp rise in HIV rates in Manitoba has been declared a public health emergency by the province. Cases have climbed to some of the highest levels in Canada. Indigenous people, especially women under the age of 40, are most affected. As Cameron McIntosh reports experts and advocates, are calling for urgent action. It's an absolute fire.

Outreach worker Melissa Morris sees it every day. She works with people recently diagnosed with HIV. As cases grow in Manitoba, mostly in the indigenous community. She says racism, along with a lack of trust in the health care system, is driving infections. Well, we've been saying that this was going to happen for quite some time, that the numbers were going to triple. They were going to quadruple.

if nothing was going to happen. Four years, HIV has been a growing problem in Manitoba, particularly in the province's north and Winnipeg, with an infection rate now three and a half times the national average per capita. So this emergency, it's not about creating fear. Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer, Dr. Brent Rusen, says declaring a public health emergency now is about awareness. Intervenous drug use, homelessness, and mental health concerns all contributing,

all areas where the indigenous population is overrepresented. Sure, focus is going to be on reducing new infections, improving access to care, supporting people living with HIV. First Nations health advocates say that means providing access to testing, medications, and education outside the regular health system, which often doesn't reach far into indigenous communities. Michelle Monkman is an indigenous health advocate. We need First Nations-led solutions.

We need public health available. We need increased resources. Many of our communities don't have access to nursing. Experts say pills and tests only do so much. The key is tackling underlying social issues. Dr. Yov-Kinan is an HIV researcher at the University of Manitoba. It's addressing the underlying issues of poverty. and houselessness and giving individuals opportunities to access testing and care.

Then there's stigma, not just dismissal of people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness, but also among those facing the possibility of a diagnosis. It's really everyone's responsibility to know that HIV is no longer a death sentence. Says Morris, education needs to be a big. part of this. Because really the best decision is to get on medication, but there's a variety of factors that that are completing that. Until all of that is addressed, she doesn't see the numbers improving. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Winnipeg. Coming right up, Ottawa has made natural resource projects a priority. Now the government wants to speed things up. Also, a pro-sovereignty group in Alberta

recently got in trouble for a data breach involving a voters list. They've also sparked the anger of a former premier. Later, we'll have this story. For centuries, details about what happened to the men of the ill-fated Franklin expedition alluded researchers. Now, new information has emerged. What we don't fully understand is why what happened happened. The story of how researchers have decoded another piece of the Franklin mystery.

Coming up on your world tonight. Mark Carney's build big agenda may be in for some big changes. CBC News has learned the Liberals are set to revamp the rules in order to speed up natural resource projects, including pipelines. While many details are missing, industry groups are so far embracing the plan. Environmentalists, not so much. David Thurton has more from Ottawa. Because the important thing is that we respect the law. And the designation requires consultations in advance of designation.

We're moving forward at speed, but we're doing it in the right way. The Prime Minister responding to questions after CBC News exclusively learned, he's considering changes with the aim of getting pipelines and other major resource projects built faster. Mark Carney's House leader, Steve McKinnon, suggested new legislation is on the way. We have a lot of work to do to continue progress on reforming a regulatory process, make sure everyone is heard, but also make sure they go faster. I don't think that's a secret. Possible legislation could be coming to...

The current government is in a race to strengthen a Canadian economy heavily reliant on trade with the U.S. The Prime Minister's major projects agenda hopes to change that, producing more clean and conventional energy that the world wants and needs, he says, all while respecting indigenous rights. Now, on the horizon, more changes to the regulatory landscape, including changes to federal legislation like the Fisheries Act. I'm quite concerned. Based on your reporting, government officials have... have already said that they expect environmental groups to not be happy with the changes. Anna Johnston is a lawyer with West Coast environmental law.

The government has already changed the law to fast-track projects deemed in the national interest through Bill C-5. Now she fears it will go further. We've been seeing the steady rolling back of environmental safeguards since this government came into power. And so I'm quite concerned that what we might see when the announcement is made is a more systematic, more whole. wholesale rolling back of our environmental legal safety net. But those who speak for the fossil fuel industry see things differently. Shannon Joseph is with Energy for a Secure Future, a group that advocates for getting more Canadian natural gas to global buyers.

Joseph says energy companies still view Canada as a tough spot to invest in. We should be doing everything possible to have our rules be really clear and that people can come in here and know that if they invest in Canada, they can predict that they can finish their projects and make her return. Although the Prime Minister now has a majority government and the changes he seeks can be made in Parliament, he risks alienating two constituencies that elected him, Canadians who want him to diversify the economy fast,

and voters who saw him as an environmental champion. David Thurton, CBC News, Ottawa. Jason Kenney says he is ticked off. The former Alberta Premier wants to know how his personal info was allegedly leaked and showcased at a meeting for separatists. His data was part of a breach that included nearly 3 million provincial voters. Aaron Collins reports. Mr. Nenshi called me on Monday morning.

Politics making strange bedfellows in Alberta. Former conservative Premier Jason Kenney tipped off about his private information being leaked by the current leader of the opposition NDP. Out of 5 million people in Alberta, they chose me to publicize my personal. personal information in the most explicit way. That wasn't by accident. Well, that leak, part of a much larger data breach, one link to a pro-sovereignty group, the Centurion Project.

That group using a voters list to gain access to millions of Albertan's private data. The head of the Centurion group, David Parker, the same person who pushed for Kenny's removal as UCP leader and premier in 2022. I immediately thought, this can't be good for me, because some of the more over-caffeinated people in the separatist movement are the kinds of people who have been making fairly frequent threats against me while it was premier and since.

The leak list was originally obtained legitimately by a pro-independence political party. There are still questions about how the Centurion Group got it. Take another 20 seconds. That leak front and center during question period today, Nahed Nenshi is the leader of the opposition. NDP. Nobody called Jason Kenney to warn him about the threat to him. Is the government really that immoral that they would look the other way when a political rival's life is in danger? Nikki Amory is Alberta's Minister of Justice. We take the protection of personal information

extremely seriously and those responsible need to be held accountable under the law. The RCMP elections Alberta and just today the provincial privacy commissioner have all announced they are investigating the leak. Not enough for some. We need to take the time to understand what went wrong and how it can be prevented from going wrong in the future. Theo Snaugowski is a political science professor

at the University of Alberta, one of more than three dozen academics who penned a letter calling for a public inquiry. I think if we have an independence referendum in October without a public inquiry, people will justifiably question the legitimacy of that election outcome. All this after separatists submitted a petition for an independence referendum Monday.

Questions about the data breach hanging over the certification of that petition. Stay-free, Alberta's Mitch Sylvester insisting a vote should proceed despite the leak, suggesting the Premier can be pressured by her own party to do just that. The Premier can put this to a ballot regardless of what happens with Elections Alberta, and that's why you would want to join the UCP. Elections Alberta says the Centurion Project sent the voter list directly. to around two dozen people connected to the separatist group. Those people have been served a cease and desist order to stop using the data.

Aaron Collins, CBC News. Calgary. The U.S. military says it has carried out what it called retaliatory strikes on Iran. It says Iran launched multiple missiles, drones, and small boats at three U.S. Navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz. And U.S. forces responded by targeting Iranian military facilities. Iranian state media has also reported an exchange of fire in the strait. Earlier, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations asked for international support to get shipping moving in the strait.

Mike Walts put forward a resolution demanding Iran stop its attacks and stop laying mines in the waterway. Because we believe in some basic fundamental principles, namely the freedom of navigation for the entire world's economies. And that's what's at stake here. Diplomats say China and Russia are likely to veto the resolution. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump announced an operation to guide ships through the strait, but abruptly cancelled it after a few days. The conflict has pushed up gas prices around the world, including for jet fuel. Air Canada says those high prices are forcing it to end service early on four seasonal routes to the U.S.

The affected flights leave Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver for smaller destinations. Raleigh, Sacramento, Charleston, and Austin. Service will remain in place to at least the end of July, and we'll start again next year. It's the push-pull happening in workplaces all over Canada. How long to keep working from home? Some Bel Canada employees say their company is using return-to-office policies as an excuse to fire them.

Anise Haydari has the details and the backlash. They were called into a meeting and said, Okay, you are doing something wrong. You are fired. Jean-Alexander de Busque wasn't fired, but more than 30 people have reached out to the Mississauga-Ontario employment lawyer because they got fired by Bell.

The company fired workers that claims violated policies around workplace attendance, including when and how often they can work from home. Those employees were given a return to work policy and said, okay, you have to work three days in the office now. The managers told them it's okay, don't worry about the policy. We can keep working here as long as you want.

Then suddenly, one day, Bell decides to fire everybody. No investigation. These people have no opportunities to explain themselves. In an internal note to employees obtained by CBC News, the chief human resources officer at Bell's parent company said those fired were deceptive about when they were in the office. And also claimed some terminated workers were caught swiping in

and then leaving shortly after. Now fired Bell workers. who spoke with CBC News deny this. So does the lawyer, who says he expects to file court claims totaling in the millions of dollars. This is a big money-saving move for bail to fire all those people for causing pay them and nothing. Bell would not confirm how many lost their jobs or who was fired. In a statement, the company said every case had a thorough investigation

and then a majority admitted to, quote, deliberate and repeated falsification of workplace attendance. Total capital expenditures were up 15.4%. Just as these firings became public, Bell's parent companies' most recent financial results also became public. Revenue is up, but so are expenses. And profits or earnings, they're down. However, those numbers are from before these employees were terminated. And when asked, Bell denied the firings were economically motivated.

Courts of coin that just cause is the capital punishment of employment law. San Diegoy is an employment lawyer who's typically on the management side of the table. He's not involved in this case, but he says Bell is facing a high bar. There is going to have to be a lot of scrutiny on Bell's policy and how was it ultimately rolled out? And was there a clear expectation that if you don't comply with this policy, it will constitute just cause? But he also says whether you work at Bell or somewhere else. Working in the office has not been deemed by courts or arbitrators to be an unreasonable request of employers. In the end, as long as the request is reasonable and well communicated, your boss,

can often choose where you work. Any Siddari, CBC News, Calgary. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. The story is packed with adventure, tragedy, and mystery. Well, today, the mystery is a little more solved.

A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo decided to figure out just who was on board the infamous Franklin expedition from 1845. They've done some of that using DNA testing. Jamie Strasson reports. We're fitting additional pieces into this puzzle. For centuries, details about what happened to the men of the ill-fated Franklin expedition alluded researchers. What we don't fully understand is why what happened happened. Now the University of Waterloo's Douglas Stenton and a team of researchers are adding another piece to the puzzle. By matching DNA samples extracted from skeletal remains with DNA donated by living descendants,

researchers confirm the identity of four men. We had to find some suitable skeletal material for sampling, and we found that, three small bones. It was a step-by-step process. I think it took about six years to get all this information together. It's been more than 180 years since the HMS Erebus and the HMS Tense. terror left England, searching for a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. After stopping in the winter of 1845, the boats froze in the Arctic ice near what is now Nunavit for two years. The crew believed to have resorted to cannibalism before 105 survivors sought help, venturing out on foot. All of them died. There remains found by various expeditions

since the mid-19th century. One expedition member researchers identified Captain Harry Peggson, His body originally found in 1859, 130 kilometers from his boat, the HMS terror. We found that we had Harry Pegler's sister's great-great-granddaughter was a perfect match. So we confirmed this was Harry Pegler. 167 years later. Another man identified John Bridgen's 26 when the expedition set sail. Researchers traced his lineage before reaching out to relative Richard Preston for a DNA sample. They had the paperwork of when the sailors were declared dead and who got whatever he'd earned or whatever was left, you know, who that went to and then they were able to trace those through marriage records.

So the long and short of it is that he is my great, great, great uncle. John Franklin's doomed expedition has always fascinated, says author Kent McGugan, who wrote the book searching for Franklin. This is all part of our history, part of Canadian history. The Americans had the American Civil War. We have the quest for the Northwest Passage, and the Franklin Expedition plays a major part in that story. The wrecks of the Arabas and terror discovered in 2014 and 2016 hold many more secrets, he says. With much of their interior as intact, they contain more clues about what happened in the Frozen North so many years ago.

Jamie Strash in CBC News, Toronto. Finally, there's a mysterious visitor. in Prince George, living under a building on the University of Northern BC campus. Student Erica Lepage has seen it. Oh gosh, it's the cutest thing ever, actually. It's like a bigger rodentish. I don't even know how to describe it. It's a marmot.

But not just any marmot. Dr. Jamie Goral says this one is a yellow-bellied marmot, who hasn't just borrowed under a building, but into their hearts. Yes, we've affectionately named this marmot dutney, which is the decal word for marment. But dutney is a long way from home. This is the most northern sighting of this animal ever recorded. And here we've got an animal that's appeared out of nowhere, it seems, much further north out of the side of their normal range. No one knows how Dutney got so far north, but Goral says it has survived a Prince George winter, and that tells them a lot.

It shows that as the planet gets warmer, species, are expanding the distribution. So for this marmint, it's great news to move further north, but at the same time, this potentially creates conflict. Does that mean another species has to lose range in competition? Dutney has become an instant celebrity, a kind of marmot mascot, if you will. Erica Lepage says the marmot is even helping her study. Everyone is very excited and everyone is trying to come and see it.

And my friends and I, we came out here, we found the marmot, and we were watching it for about 10 minutes right before an exam, kind of as a stress reliever, get our nerves down before taking a big exam. UNBC is looking at starting up a live stream camera on the Marmot so people everywhere can watch and maybe relieve some stress. This has been your world tonight for Thursday, May 7th. I'm Stephanie Skendaris. Thank you for being with us.

Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.