Remote Manitoba First Nation confirms 2 cases of swine flu

Swine flu has been confirmed in two residents of the remote Manitoba community of St. Theresa Point First Nation.

Two people have tested positive for the H1N1 influenza A virus that has been spreading in North America and elsewhere since it first appeared in Mexico in April, Whelan Mason, deputy chief of St. Theresa Point First Nation, and other community health officials confirmed Thursday. The two people and 19 others with flu-like symptoms from the community of 3,200 people are currently hospitalized in Winnipeg.

In all, 200 people from the reserve, located about 500 kilometres from Winnipeg, have reported being ill in the past week. The majority of them are being treated in the community.

Consequently, four additional doctors and several more nurses have been sent there by the province. Mostly everyone in the community was wearing protective masks on Thursday — including people working at the band office, in administration buildings and at the local store.

The school has been closed for several days, and public gatherings are forbidden.

The band council has been instructing residents on how to avoid spreading the virus, using local radio and television to get the message out.

Manitoba Health authorities announced Wednesday 27 new cases of the H1N1 virus have been identified in the province, including two on northern First Nations communities, but the health officials did not reveal which First Nations were affected.

Mason said he suspects there will be more cases of the virus in his community.

Of the 21 patients from the community in Winnipeg hospitals, two are in critical condition. They are women in their 20s, including one who was pregnant but has since miscarried.

Results of the H1N1 virus testing for the two women have not come back yet, according to Mason.

Overcrowded housing exacerbates spread of illness, chief says

St. Theresa Point Chief David McDougal said substandard housing on his reserve is a prime breeding ground for infectious diseases, such as swine flu, because of overcrowding. It's common for up to 12 people to live in a two-bedroom house, he said.

"it's a wakeup call for everyone, especially both levels of government," he said. "We've stressed this over years, saying that this is an emergency, or a real catastrophe waiting to happen. And now we're seeing it."

Despite the situation, people in the community are surprisingly calm, McDougal said. But others seem to be nervous about people from the First Nation, he said, noting that on Thursday some residents who are in the Winnipeg to be with family were told to move out of their downtown hotel.

Kyle Wyatt, general manager of the St. Regis Hotel, said Health Canada contacted him and told him to transfer the St. Theresa guests to another facility. He did not have an exact number of people, but did say it was guests from five rooms.

Health Canada did not explain to him why the guests had to be moved out.

Jim Baker, head of the Manitoba Hotels Association, said he hasn't heard anything about people being asked to leave any hotels because of the flu outbreak. But he said the association has been trying to get information from health officials about what to do in such a situation.

"Clearly, if these actions have taken place, I would just surmise what has happened is the operators — their major concern is the health and safety of their staff and guests. So they have been put [between] a rock and a hard place," Baker said.