Tuberculosis outbreak probed in N.W.T. community

Health officials in the Northwest Territories are trying to determine the cause of a tuberculosis outbreak in the remote community of Déline.

To date, there have been five confirmed cases of the contagious airborne disease in the community of about 700, located on the southwestern shore of Great Bear Lake.

Health officials say there are 11 cases of people carrying Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the germ that causes tuberculosis. Carriers do not display symptoms and cannot transmit TB unless it develops into the full-blown disease.

The N.W.T. Health Department has dispatched a team to investigate how the disease flared up in Déline, as well as to figure out how to stop its spread.

People in Déline and the N.W.T.'s Sahtu region should watch closely for the symptoms of tuberculosis, communicable disease specialist Cheryl Case told CBC News.

"They will be coughing, usually for three weeks or more. They'll start to feel fatigued and weak," Case said Monday.

"As the disease progresses ... when they go to bed at night they'll find that they wake up with their bed clothing wet, so we refer to that as night sweats. They can also experience some pain in their chest. And they may even, if they get really sick, start to cough up blood."

Once the tuberculosis infection or germ is identified, Case said, it is treatable. But left untreated, tuberculosis can be fatal.

The World Health Organization estimates that tuberculosis kills about 1.5 million people around the world each year. Most cases are reported in Africa and Asia.