TB exposure

Infected worker removed from BHP's Misery Lake camp

Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 20/01) - Some workers at BHP's Misery camp have been exposed to tuberculosis.

Graham Nichols, BHP's vice president of External Affairs, confirmed that a person employed by a subcontractor had inadvertently worked at the camp.

Tuberculosis facts TB is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is highly contagious, and spread through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks. Many people infected with TB never develop the full-blown disease. In some people, particularly those with weakened immune systems, the TB bacterium can become active, leading to TB disease. Source: Francis J. Curry National TB Centre

"There was an individual who was there for a period of about 10 days," said Nichols.

The individual has latent tuberculosis, which means they show no symptoms of the disease, but are at risk of developing full-blown TB disease and infecting others.

When a community health nurse in the person's home community of Lutsel K'e learned that the person had gone into the camp, she promptly took action.

"(The afflicted individual) was returned right away."

Nichols said that the person was employed by Kitikmeot Catering, which had received a subcontract from Nuna Logistics.

A spokesperson for Nuna Logistics referred all media inquiries to BHP.

NWT Chief Medical Officer Andre Corriveau was travelling and unable to comment as of press time. However, it is confirmed that some employees have been reporting to Public Health for testing.

Nichols was unable to tell Yellowknifer how many workers had come in contact with the infected individual.

The Misery camp is located approximately 30 kilometres from BHP's Ekati mine. Nichols could not say how many workers were at the site.