Yellowknife Public Health is accepting only urgent appointments as a result of a tuberculosis concern that appears to have developed days ago but was only publicized for the first time in a Wednesday radio interview.
The territory announced the outbreak on CBC North’s morning radio show without having formally declared one anywhere else. Unusually, it was not accompanied by any written declaration of an outbreak.
Yet the NWT’s health authority – which isn’t responsible for declaring outbreaks – told Cabin Radio it had begun reducing services on Friday, June 28 “to ensure capacity to respond to the outbreak of tuberculosis in Yellowknife.”
Only shortly before 4pm did the Department of Health and Social Services separately confirm an outbreak was under way. An exposure advisory for June 19 at Stanton hospital was separately issued.
“A case of TB was identified in Yellowknife in late June. This case was linked to a previous TB case in 2023. Since that first case, another case of TB was identified, resulting in the declaration of an outbreak,” a spokesperson stated by email.
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“There is an active investigation being conducted by the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer. Physicians and Public Health staff have been alerted and more information will be available to the public shortly.”
The CBC quoted acting chief public health officer Dr André Corriveau as saying he had declared an outbreak “because of the volume of work that’s going to be involved in following up on these cases” and carrying out contact tracing.
“I don’t think the average person in the city needs to be worried,” the CBC reported Dr Corriveau had said, though he said in the same interview that there had been “a lot of potential exposures.”
“At the moment, the public should stay alert and be aware of the symptoms of tuberculosis,” the department stated after this article was first published.
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Tuberculosis symptoms include a cough that lasts for more than three weeks, fever, night sweats, chills, chest pain, the coughing-up of blood, and fatigue. Unintended weight loss or loss of appetite can also be signs.
“If someone feels they have been in contact with someone with TB, or if they are concerned about signs and symptoms of TB that they may be experiencing, they should call 811 for more information and guidance,” the department added.
The health authority said its reduction in services will continue until at least July 8 and may be extended.
“During this reduction of services, appointment requests will be triaged, and no new appointments will be booked with public health unless identified as urgent,” the authority told Cabin Radio by email.
“Any patients who had non-urgent scheduled appointments have already been notified and their appointments have been reviewed and rescheduled as required.”
