Flu Forces Cancellation of Northern Water Event

Flu Forces Cancellation of Northern Water Event

Monday, August 17, 2009 at 14:22

 

 

A major conference on preserving the waters of the Athabasca Basin has been postponed at the last minute, due to a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu in the host community of Hatchet Lake.

 

The Hatchet Lake Dene Nation was scheduled to host the fourth annual Keepers of the Water event, starting this Thursday and running until Sunday.

 

However, early this afternoon the band’s chief and council announced their decision to cancel the event and re-schedule it to next summer, after medical officials in the community recommended they not proceed due to the presence of H1N1 — also known as swine flu.

 

In addition to a single confirmed case, several households have reported “flu-like symptoms”.

 

In a release issued by the band, Chief Bart Tsannie says the community “is doing its best to educate its members on how to deal with this situation and contain the incidences.”

 

“Chief and council feel it is in the best interest of visitors’ and community members’ health to deal first with the recent unfortunate situation at hand,” Chief Tsannie says in the release.

 

Scheduled conference participants will receive assistance in cancelling travelling plans, and sponsors and presenters will also be contacted regarding “next steps”, Chief Tsannie says.

 

Meanwhile, Dr. Mandiangu Nsungu of the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority agrees with the band’s decision to call off the conference.

 

Nsungu says test samples from some of the patients have been sent to a lab in Regina but it’s too soon to say how many cases are actually H1N1.

 

“I would not say right now that all those cases are H1N1, because not all of them have been tested for H1N1. But we know that those cases have signs of influenza-like illness,” Nsungu says.

 

He says the lab results from the Hatchet Lake cases should be back later this week.