DELINE - A tuberculosis outbreak in Deline appears to be coming to an end, as health officials have succeeded in screening 95 per cent of residents for the disease.

Wanda White: Health official says tuberculosis to be monitored for another 12 months. - NNSL file photo

Incidence of TB in the community "is slowing down considerably," said Wanda White, manager of the health protection unit with the NWT Department of Health and Social Services.

"We're not finding any new active cases," said White. "To say the outbreak is over, we don't actually do that until we've finished our investigation. But it's certainly nearing completion."

Health officials intend to continue screening until the community's entire population – numbering just over 700 -- is covered, White said.

Sixteen contagious, active cases of the disease were identified since the outbreak began last October. These patients were isolated and treated in hospital for the potentially fatal disease, which infects the lungs.

At least 50 other latent, or non-contagious cases were found. Such patients are carriers of the disease-causing bacteria, and are currently undergoing treatment with medication to eliminate the disease before it becomes infectious. Treating these cases is particularly important, White said.

"The medication wipes it out, so you have no chance in the future of having active tuberculosis," she said.

The TB outbreak has not changed life much in the community, according to Deline Chief Raymond Tutcho.

"Life remains as it is," he told News/North. "If people are afraid of tuberculosis, they can staty at home.

"We're continuing with our regular day-to-day, with input from Health and Social Services," Tutcho said.

The Sahtu Regional Health and Social Services Authority has carried out the screening program in Deline for almost four months, under the supervision of White and fellow communicable disease specialist Cheryl Case. Screening involves a skin test, which shows if the patient has been exposed to the TB germ. Patients with a positive result must have chest X-rays done, and provide a sputum sample obtained from coughing.

The current outbreak's roots can be traced back to another outbreak in Yellowknife three years ago, which was found among the homeless population and people who were staying at the Salvation Army, some of whom were from the Sahtu region, White said.

Incidence of tuberculosis in the North is about seven times the national average, and has been highly prevalent ever since it was introduced to the North in the 1930s, White said. Lack of historical exposure, and factors such as overcrowding, housing, nutrition, smoking and substance abuse are all thought to be causes of the disease's high incidence in the North.

Populations with a longer history of exposure to tuberculosis have built up greater immunity to the disease, as has been the case in European countries "for centuries and centuries," White told News/North.

"Northern people weren't exposed until later," she said, so "that genetic resistance hasn't built up.

"It's an airborne disease and it's easily spread that way," said White, noting that Nunavut, with its chronic overcrowded housing conditions, is now undergoing its worst outbreak since that territory's creation in 1999.

"But you have to be vulnerable, and that's why it's more prevalent in developing countries," she said.

Health authorities will continue to monitor the prevalence of TB in Deline for the next year.

"We have in excess of 50 people on medication," White said. "These people will have to take the medication for at least the next nine months," she explained, which will help eliminate the disease.

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