Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 27, 2007

IQALUIT - According to a recent report from the Department of Health, 113 Nunavummiut are known to carry the HTLV-1 virus.

The symptoms of the Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus, Type 1 can go undetected for years, but health officials warn that it could turn into a deadly illness in those infected.

Complications from the disease have claimed the lives of at least three Nunavummiut to date, according to Deborah Van Dyk, the Baffin regional communicable disease co-ordinator.

The territorial Department of Health has released test results from a study conducted between May and October 2006, revealing that 3.9 out of 1,000 people in Nunavut carry the virus. Tests were conducted on anonymous leftover blood samples.

HTLV-1 is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact, primarily through sexual transmission. It can also be transmitted by sharing contaminated needles and through infected women who breastfeed.

The risk is quite high that newborns will contract the disease if breastfed by a woman with the virus. While the Department of Health encourages breastfeeding, they advise women with the virus to not do so.

Approximately 80 people are tested each month in the territory, most as part of standard pre-natal screening. Testing is done in health centres and is confidential.

Those being checked for the virus receive counselling prior to the testing. A blood sample is drawn and then sent to a southern laboratory for analysis.

The results can take up to six weeks, as further testing is needed if the sample comes back positive.

"The health centre staff are very well briefed," said Van Dyk.

"For the vast majority of people, there will be no symptoms," said Dr. Geraldine Osborne, Nunavut's chief medical officer of health.

As it's a long-lasting disease, some may never know they are carrying it, but they have the ability to spread it. Coming into casual contact with an infected person is not risky.

Less than five percent of those infected will develop symptoms, but that small minority can develop a very serious illness. HTVL-1 can cause cancer of the blood or a disease in the nervous system. It is comparable to viral hepatitis in the way that it behaves, Dr. Osborne said.

"Once you develop symptoms, at the moment there is no treatment," she said.

The virus is an area of interest for researchers, particularly Japanese researchers, and there is hope that treatment will soon be available. Those that do test positive receive follow up care.

"The biggest thing is being aware of your health history and the risks you may have in the future ... with that knowledge you are able to diagnose and get better treatment quicker," Van Dyk said.

The virus was first discovered in Nunavut in 2005 with a patient that developed leukemia.