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By paNOW Staff

Athabasca Health Authority declares tuberculosis outbreak in Fond Du Lac and Black Lake

Oct 9, 2021 | 5:23 PM

The Athabasca Health Authority has officially declared a tuberculosis outbreak in both Fond Du Lac and Black Lake.

According to a media release, they have no fewer than seven and six cases in Fond Du Lac and Black Lake.

“Be informed that measures are in place to manage the crisis. We strongly encourage the communities to adhere to the recommendations and be more cautious this time,” the release stated.

On Oct. 8 they recorded 20 tuberculosis cases receiving treatment in the two communities however, not all cases are necessarily active and some are in latent and some window prophylaxis.

“Given that the COVID-19 crisis is ongoing around the world with its effect much felt in certain underserved areas, TB crisis management may potentially suffer some setbacks if not given the needed attention. In the far north-central zone of Saskatchewan currently covered by the AHA, we’ve recently identified an heightened TB crisis which we’ve continued to manage in collaboration with our partners/agencies over time,” as stated in the release.

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As they continue to manage the crisis they’ve launced preliminary recommendations and an action plan.

They recommend tuberculosis patients should take extra caution in view of preventing being infected with COVID-19, patients should adhere to their treatment plans, encourage the family of the patient to support their loved one and reach out to support when and where necessary, good hygiene is highly recommended and finally they recommend an early diagnosis which is essential for prompt treatment.

Here are the following plans they have in place to combat the outbreak against tuberculosis.

• Increased monitoring and resources towards TB management.
• Improved Communicable Disease Management Team.
• Increased workforce (both clinical and nonclinical) primarily for communicable disease management including but not limited to COVID, TB, and HIV.
• We are posting more positions to support the existing Communicable disease management team.
• We are creating a TB/COVID-19 Hotline primarily for clients support.
• Ongoing collaboration with our partners including but not limited to NITHA, SHA, TB prevention control and ISC.
• Frequent TB Situation Report and recommendations.
• Health promotion and education on TB prevention, management and control – see the September 2021 AHA Newsletter, and AHA facebook.
• Continued engagement with key interagency in the AHA communities.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

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