Whooping cough outbreak continues in Nunavut community

An outbreak of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, continues in the Hudson Bay community of Sanikiluaq.

Nunavut’s Health Department said today that the status of Sanikiluaq’s pertussis outbreak remains unchanged since a previous public health advisory about the outbreak on June 8.

The number of confirmed cases is still fewer than five, the Health Department told Nunatsiaq News in an emailed statement.

About 900 people live in Sanikiluaq.

“Health staff have been conducting contact tracing and investigation of symptoms to determine if there are additional undetected cases of pertussis within the community,” the department said. “Health staff has also been reviewing and updating pertussis vaccinations for community members.”

Due to the outbreak, no daycare is open in Sanikiluaq, although others in Nunavut have reopened.

But there are no other public health measures currently in place in Sanikiluaq that are “not otherwise implemented elsewhere.”

Whooping cough is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which can cause uncontrollable, violent coughing that often makes it hard to breathe.

Nunavut has been hit by several outbreaks of whooping cough in recent years, with the most recent big outbreak taking place in 2017.

Every year in Canada there are one to three deaths due to whooping cough, mostly in babies under the age of three months who have not been immunized, according to Health Canada.

Vaccinations and antibiotics can work to prevent the spread of the whooping cough infection.

You can learn more about whooping cough by reading the pertussis fact sheet available on the Department of Health’s website.