FRANCAIS

April 13, 2006

·         Public health officials continue to investigate a cluster of tuberculosis cases in Island Lake communities.

·         Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and treatable infection caused by bacteria (germs).  It usually affects the lungs but can also affect other areas of the body.  TB disease of the lungs can be contagious.

·         When people have active TB, they may have symptoms such as persistent coughing, loss of appetite, weight loss, night sweats and fever.  People with these symptoms should see a doctor to determine the presence of TB or other causes of their symptoms.

·         As of today, this TB cluster includes 19 cases with active tuberculosis.  These cases are being treated.

·         At this time, the risk to the public is considered low.  To date, all cases associated with this cluster have occurred in people with close, household-like contact with an infectious case.  An investigation of close contacts of the source case and subsequent cases continues.

·         Health officials continue to work together to identify contacts of infected individuals and monitor the number, type, location and pattern of tuberculosis cases.  Results are very preliminary and will take up to several weeks for completion.

·         Manitoba Health continues to work with Health Canada’s First Nations Inuit Health Branch and Four Arrows Health Authority to manage the investigation.

·         A person with infectious TB can spread the disease to others through activities such as coughing or sneezing.  TB usually spreads only through close, frequent and prolonged contact with someone who has infectious TB.

·         Anyone with health concerns or questions on tuberculosis can call Health Links–Info Santé at 788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257.

·         For more information on tuberculosis, visit the Manitoba Health website at:

http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/cdc/fs/tuberculosis.pdf.

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