Tuberculosis outbreak hits Labrador weeks after ITK decried funding loss

Health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador have declared an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) within the Inuit region of Labrador, just weeks after a national Inuit group had warned that funding was needed to eradicate the disease. The region is home to several small communities, and officials are not revealing the number of confirmed cases in order to protect peoples’ privacy, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said Friday. However, she said the number of cases is small. An outbreak is declared when the number of cases is higher than expected and there is transmission of the disease, Fitzgerald said. “We’re always concerned when we see cases of (tuberculosis). It can be a pretty significant infection for the individual,” she said in an interview. An infected person may have no symptoms and unknowingly transmit the disease to others. “That’s really the big concern with it, is that it can often be spread a little bit before we actually know about it,” she said. Earlier this month, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) — denounced the federal government for not renewing funding to eliminate the disease in Inuit communities. The federal government has pledged to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030 in Inuit Nunangat, the traditional homeland of Inuit in Canada and it has allocated money in the past to achieve that goal. In a press release earlier this month, ITK said there was no renewed funding in the recent federal budget, signalling a “wilful neglect of this public health emergency.” Tuberculosis rates in Inuit regions are more than 300 times higher than those among non-Indigenous Canadians, the release said. Figures from Statistics Canada show the disease rate for Inuit in 2023 was 204.2 per 100,000 people, compared with 0.4 per 100,000 non-Indigenous, Canadian-born people. ITK said the high tuberculosis rates stem from inadequate and overcrowded housing, as well as poverty and stigma. The federal housing advocate declared housing conditions a “human rights failure” in Nunatsiavut, the Inuit region of northern Labrador, after a visit in October 2023. Tuberculosis is a contagious disease caused by bacteria that usually affects the lungs and its symptoms include a persistent cough, fever, night sweats and weight loss. It is spread through the air when an infected person coughs, talks, laughs or sings. Fitzgerald said people should get tested if they have any symptoms or if they have been exposed to the disease. There are health teams on the ground tracing contacts and working to limit the spread, she said. “Get assessed, get treated as quickly as possible if you do have (the) disease, and then co-operate with public health in the contact tracing process and testing,” she said. “The most important thing is to protect yourself, protect others.” Story by Sarah Smellie Continue Reading