YELLOWKNIFE - Health Canada reports that the NWT has the highest rate of Hepatitis C infection per capita in Canada.

The NWT's rate of Hepatitis C is 86.4 cases per 100,000 population.

Aboriginal healer David Gehue, left of N.S., blesses a torch that was carried across Canada for Hepatitis C awareness and has been blessed by the pope, while Robin Tomlin, right of B.C., who has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C and is awaiting a liver transplant, holds it up with him. - Jessica Klinkenberg/NNSL photo Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that causes inflammation of the liver, and can lead to cirrhosis. The virus is spread by contact with infected blood - through unsterilized needles, tattoo or piercing equipment; sexual activity, or by being born to a mother with Hep C. Many Canadians who received donated blood via tranfusions prior to 1992 are also at risk of infection Infection with two other strains of the hepatitis virus - Hepatitis A, which is spread through contaminated food and drink, and Hepatitis B, which is sexually transmitted - can be prevented through vaccinations. There is no vaccine for Hepatitis C. While some people can go for their entire lives never knowing they carry the virus, typical sign of an infection is inflammation of the liver. Other symptoms following initial infection include jaundice and fatigue.

British Columbia ranks second with 73 cases per 100,000 population.

In total, there are 356 known cases in the NWT as of May 29, reports the department of Health and Social Services.

Yellowknife has 223 of these cases.

But this number is an underestimation, said Dr. Andre Corriveau, chief medical officer of the NWT.

"Many cases remain hidden due to silent Hepatitis C virus carriers who experience no symptoms at all," Corriveau said Tuesday at the fourth Aboriginal Hepatitis conference, a three-day long event in Yellowknife.

"It's scary and I'm always saying we haven't seen the worse of it," said Fox Morin, who founded the conference. Morin was referring to the high number of people with the virus in the territory.

Morin said bringing the conference to Yellowknife was vital. It was attended by about 500 people from across Canada.

"It was very important because there was absolutely no education going on in the NWT," he said.

Corriveau said public health nurses and doctors provide people with the information if they feel that the person could potentially have Hep C.

He said this may be partly why the NWT has such high numbers: nurses and doctors here are looking for the disease more actively than those in other provinces.

"I think our rates are high because we diagnose people," he said. "I think we're doing a very good job of tracking them."

Corriveau said the numbers for Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia can't be accurate, as all three report zero cases.

"It's also hard to believe that (they) have no rates at all," he said.

Wanda White, health protection and communicable disease specialist with Health and Social Services, said studies show that the majority of Hepatitis C carriers in the NWT are Aboriginal.

Corriveau said people often worry about HIV first when sharing needles or getting a piercing or tattoo in an unsanitary condition.

"People think that because it's their friends and family and they know that they don't have HIV, it's safe," Corriveau said.

"People don't know that (Hepatitis C) is more common than HIV," Corriveau said.

Ten per cent of people with Hep C who don't receive treatment in time can suffer severe damage to their liver and may need a transplant, Corriveau said.

"If the liver fails and we can't get them a liver, they're going to die," he said.