Situation Manitoba and Ontario have been seeing an increase in invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease (iGAS) cases recently. A trend of higher iGAS cases post pandemic is something that is being seen in many jurisdictions, including ours. Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) catchment area regularly has higher iGAS rates than the Read more…
Situation Northwestern Health Unit has been seeing an increase in invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease (iGAS) cases in our region recently, with spikes in the past few months. The majority of cases have been identified in the Sioux Lookout (including Northern First Nations) and Kenora areas, but cases are occurring Read more…
Situation Manitoba Health has declared a pertussis outbreak in the region of Southern Health-Santé Sud. Between January to June 23, 2023, 152 of 154 confirmed or probable cases reported to Manitoba Health have been from the Southern Health-Santé Sud region. Most cases (110/152) are in children aged zero to nine. Read more…
Situation On July 1, 2023, the Mandatory Blood Testing Act (MBTA) will be updated. With this update, any previous versions of forms relating to MBTA will need to be replaced with new forms. The use of old forms will result in delays and problems with proceeding with the action under Read more…
Situation There has been an increase in invasive Group A Streptococcal (iGAS) Disease cases in other parts of Ontario and in the US. Cases include a larger proportion of children under 18 than in the past and the highest rates are in those aged 0-4 and 65 and over. Increased Read more…
An Ontario resident with no travel history was recently identified as having gonorrhea that was non-susceptible to ceftriaxone and cefixime, and resistant to ciprofloxacin, penicillin, and tetracycline. The individual is a male who reported sex with the opposite sex and one sexual contact. A multi drug resistant (MDR) strain of Read more…
Situation Since January 2023 there has been an increase in confirmed pertussis (whooping cough) cases being reported in Alberta and more recently, in Manitoba. There is an increased risk of pertussis cases in northwestern Ontario due to our proximity to Manitoba, and frequent travel between the provinces. Pertussis is a Read more…
Issue Shigellosis is an acute infectious diarrheal disease characterized by severe abdominal cramps, tenesmus, fever and malaise, nausea, vomiting, and watery or bloody diarrhea which may contain mucus. It is highly infectious and a common cause of travel-associated diarrhea. Treatment includes rehydration and electrolyte replacement when indicated, and usually does Read more…
Situation COVID-19 made it harder for people to get preventive health care, like vaccines. Because of this, it is estimated that world-wide, 61 million doses of measles vaccine were postponed or missed during the pandemic. Due to the increased number of unimmunized people, cases of measles have been on the Read more…
The infectious syphilis outbreak in the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area is ongoing, and rates continue to increase. In 2022 syphilis rates increased by 21%, which is an incidence of 171.3 per 100,000. Prior to 2018 when rates started to spike, the area’s syphilis incidence was 2.9 per 100,000. Most Read more…