Manitoba's tuberculosis rate double the national average: WRHA
Manitoba continues to experience the highest rate of tuberculosis among Canadian provinces, but health officials say that number could be brought down dramatically by addressing root causes of the infectious disease.
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority medical officer of health Dr. Pierre Plourde said our province sees on average about 200 cases of TB a year, which is double the average rate in all of Canada.
According to the World Health Organization, TB is the world's second deadliest infectious disease, following COVID-19. It is caused by bacteria that typically affects the lungs. The germs are mostly spread from person to person in the air, like when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Health officials say the disease can easily be mistaken for other respiratory or bacterial diseases, as coughing is a common symptom.
A tip off that it is TB and not influenza or COVID - the cough often comes with fever, severe night sweats or unexplained weight loss. The cough can also persist for weeks.
“When you see those other symptoms, it's a trigger for paying more attention to it,” Dr. Plourde said in an interview on CTV Morning Live Winnipeg on Friday.
He said the disease is treatable with antibiotics over many months, but it can be more challenging the more developed the disease is.
According to Plourde, cases are disproportionately high in northern areas of the province, where the rates are 10 times the Canadian average.
He said this is mostly due to socioeconomic conditions and not a lack of health care.
“In the north where TB spreads like wildfire, it’s primarily the poor housing,” he said.
“When you've got 25 people living in a three-bedroom bungalow where there should only be maybe five or six people in that setting, TB just spreads very easily.”
Still, he said progress has been made. TB rates in the north have seen steady decreases in recent years.
Plourde said drastic progress is unlikely without addressing issues of marginalization, like poverty and the living conditions associated with it.
“That's what's going to bring us to the elimination of TB in the province.”
- With files from CTV's Ainsley McPhail and the Associated Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.