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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - At the beginning of the week, when Pat Chmilar heard about the dreaded - and potentially deadly - bacteria listeria monocytogenes and the Maple Leaf meat recall, he wasn't too worried.

"Being this far away, I wasn't really concerned," he said.

Pat Chmilar holds a package of frozen deli meat bearing the infamous "97B" mark. - Lauren McKeon/NNSL Photo

That was before he heard about Stanton Territorial Hospital's 43 corned beef sandwiches - possibly tainted - and a slew of other recalls hitting the NWT.

It was also before he found a package of deli meat in his fridge bearing the tell-tale "97B" marking, tracing the meat back to the now infamous Maple Leaf meat processing plant in Toronto. The package was open and Chmilar and his family had eaten the "Ezee Sub" slices throughout the past week.

Over the weekend health officials confirmed the link between meat processed at that plant and the bacteria responsible for five deaths in Ontario - and 10 other deaths under investigation across Canada. Currently, there are 29 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, with 31 suspected cases.

"There aren't any really suspect cases and there aren't any confirmed cases in the Northwest Territories," however, said NWT chief environmental officer Duane Fleming.

While there are no confirmed serious cases here, there are "people that have been seen by clinicians in NWT who have claimed that they've eaten the meat," he said.

Those people include Chmilar and his wife, a two-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, who have been suffering from diarrhea all week.

"It may be nothing," admitted Chmilar. But then again, he added, it could be connected. Chmilar and his family were asked to provide stool samples, which is the testing in place for the more mild form of listeriosis.

This mild form mimics flu symptoms and is self-limiting, meaning it can go away on its own.

So far, nobody in the NWT has come in with symptoms severe enough that antibiotic treatment would be necessary.

"(Those who've visited clinicians) are not sick enough that the doctor has taken a blood sample," said Fleming, referring to the testing used to detect more life-threatening listeriosis.

In the past week-and-a-half the product recall list jumped from just from over 20 to over 220 items, with products still being added. Now included on the recall list are Maple Leaf products sold under the Schneiders, Hygrade, Parma, Hickory Farms, Shopsy's, Western Family, Artisan Collection, Compliments, Campfire, Overlander and Safeway names.

Affected restaurants like MacDonald's and Boston Pizza moved quickly to yank recalled items off their menus earlier this week. Grocers in Yellowknife have also been working this week to pull the items.

Both Extra Foods locations in Yellowknife have signs posted outside and throughout the store warning customers that many deli items won't be in stock.

"I can rest everyone assured there is no longer any of the recalled items on any of our store shelves," said Inge van den Berg, vice-president of investor relations at Loblaw's, which is the parent company of Extra Foods.

"We removed all of the product and it has been destroyed such that no one needs to worry about any further spread," she added. She said she was unaware of how Yellowknife Extra Foods had disposed of the product, but she was sure it was destroyed.

Managers at Yellowknife Extra Foods refused to comment, referring Yellowknifer to van den Berg.

The Yellowknife Direct Co-op, which has also pulled products affected by the recall, was unable to provide a contact for Yellowknifer either at its local or national head offices.

Members of the public who have "97B" meat, like Chmilar, are asked to either throw the meat out or return it to the store of purchase for disposal. Testing is not being done on such meat.

"There aren't any food samples that originated from the public that are being analysed, except in the case of a confirmed case of listeria," Fleming said.

Listeriosis symptoms can mimic the flu and can include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, nausea, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. Different populations face different risks, added health officials.

Young, healthy adults are more likely to experience more flu-like symptoms. However, the elderly, pregnant woman and people with weak immune systems are at higher risk.

The infection in pregnant women can actually lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn and even stillbirth. In others, mainly the young, the elderly or those with weak immune systems, flu-like symptoms may be followed by brain or blood infection, either of which can result in death.

"This will wake us all up (as to) what exactly we're eating," speculated Chmilar.

Anyone who thinks they may be experiencing symptoms is advised to get themselves to their local health centre or to call the Tele-Care Health line at 1-800-255-1010.

A complete list of recalled products is available at www.nnsl.com.