Nunavut officials look into reports of botulism in Sanikiluaq

Nunavut public health officials are looking into reports of botulism in the Hudson Bay community of Sanikiluaq, where some residents recently became ill after eating fermented seal meat. (IMAGE COURTESY OF THE CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)

Nunavut public health officials are looking into reports of botulism in the Hudson Bay community of Sanikiluaq.

That’s where some residents have become ill after eating fermented seal meat, the territory’s health department said this week.

Health officials are asking residents to avoid eating any fermented seal and to keep an eye out for symptoms of the rare but potentially serious illness.

Residents who have eaten fermented seal should watch for:

• diarrhea, nausea and vomiting;

• feeling weak or tired;

• blurred vision;

• weakness of the arms, chest muscles or legs; and,

• trouble breathing.

Anyone who has experienced those symptoms should call the community health centre at 867-266-8965.

Botulism is caused by a toxin that affects the nervous system and can cause paralysis. The illness can be treated when it’s caught early.

If not diagnosed and treated, however, botulism can lead to respiratory failure and death within one to 10 days.

Although food-borne botulism is most often associated with the improper storage of low-acid foods, like certain vegetables and juices, outbreaks have occurred in Inuit communities where residents have prepared raw or partially cooked traditional foods, like seal meat, fermented whale blubber, smoked salmon and fermented salmon eggs.

Sanikiluaq resident who have leftover fermented seal should contact the regional environmental health officer at 867-645-8071 to have the meat tested.