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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Health officials continue to watch the virus that caused an outbreak of cases last year.

At least 12 people contracted tuberculosis from a man that stayed at the Salvation Army last year.

A small group of hospital and public health staff have been meeting twice a month for the past five years to review all cases of TB in the Northwest Territories. Efforts to prevent the next outbreak, according to Dr. Amy Hendricks, include identifying patients, dealing with substance abuse and adjusting regimens for toxicity.

It is difficult to track down possibly infected people because many of them have no fixed address or contact information.

When the outbreak hit, the group had lots of information, but changes needed to be made in the policy and procedure about the drug.

"We began adjusting our standing orders, hospital policies and communication pathways to better suit the needs that we identified in the course of patient care," said Hendricks, who chairs the group that is working to fight the disease.

The group started implementing preventive measures at shelters.

"The TB program coordinator asked for an inspection of the shelter's ventilation," said Hendricks.

"We worked closely with the staff to choose a new air filtration system. We lobbied the Department of Health to pay for it."

The shelter staff needed some training as cough monitors in order to see signs of possibly infected people, Hendricks said.

There was concern that hospital resources would be overloaded, but the medical health officer developed a new isolation policy and a portable sputum induction isolation booth would be the next item the hospital lobbied for. Jails were another concern where prevention of the disease was vital.

"We streamlined communications, and drafted a protocol for treatment of latent TB within the correctional system so that no opportunity will be missed in the prevention of active disease," said Hendricks.

An emergency room physician was also willing to lend a hand.

When potential patients come into the hospital for care, he offered to take sputum samples.

The group's efforts have paid off, according to Health and Social Services' disease specialist Cheryl Case.

"We have had seven cases of TB to date this year," she said. "We usually have an average of 10 cases per year."