Welcome to Nunavut's resource page for the Infectious Disease Outbreaks: Tools and strategies for front-line clinicians online course. This course helps clinicians prepare for, detect and respond to notifiable, emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases. It identifies best practices on how clinicians, public health, and laboratory professionals can work together to address infectious disease outbreaks effectively and efficiently.

The course describes best practices by way of four case studies, and links back to each province and territory so that front-line clinicians may find specific information for their region. This resource page is designed to provide Nunavut-specific information all in one place, such as how to contact your local Medical Officer of Health.

This course was developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Public Health Association and Memorial University, and is approved by the Public Health Network Council. This CME course is accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. You can access the course by visiting: http://www.publichealth.gc.ca/outbreaks-course.

• General outline of the basic reporting duties of clinicians as per the public health and communicable diseases legislation
  

Disease Registries Act,, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. 7 (Supp.)
http://www.canlii.org/nt/laws/sta/supp.7/20070813/whole.html

Public Health Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. P-12
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?language=en&searchTitle=Northwest+Territories&path=/nt/laws/sta/p-12/20070813/whole.html

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Need updated link

“communicable diseases” means a disease listed in the Communicable Diseases Regulation, Regulations, R.R.N.W.T. 1990, c. P-13
http://www.canlii.org/nt/laws/regu/p-13/20070813/whole.html

Interpretation, Communicable Diseases Regulations, Section 1

"specific control measures" means

(a) the control measures for a communicable disease that are specified for that disease in the latest edition of the Official Report of the American Public Health Association for the Control of Communicable Diseases, or

(b) where, in the opinion of the Chief Medical Health Officer, the Report referred to in paragraph (a) no longer reflects the most current medical information available on a communicable disease or is not appropriate to conditions in the Territories, the control measures specified for that disease by the Chief Medical Health Officer, based on the most current medical information available or the conditions in the Territories; (mesures de contrôle spécifiques)

Basic reporting duties of physicians

Notification and treatment, Communicable Diseases Regulations, Section 4 (1)
A medical practitioner or nurse who has received a positive test result for a patient or a medical practitioner, nurse or dentist who believes that a patient is infected with a communicable disease, shall:

(a) For a disease listed in Part 1 of Schedule A, immediately notify the Chief Medical Health Officer by telephone and within 24 hours send a report to the Chief Medical Health Officer;
(b) For a disease listed in Part 2 of Schedule A, within seven days send a report to the Chief Medical Health Officer
(c) advise the patient to adopt the specific control measures for the disease and provide the necessary information; and
(d) Within seven days of giving notice, carry out contact tracing or surveillance of those aspects of the occurrence and spread of the communicable disease that are pertinent to the effective control of the disease, or request the Chief Medical Health Officer to carry out the contact tracing or surveillance.

Reportable disease, Diseases Registries Act, Section 3

A health care professional who examines, diagnoses or treats a person in respect of a reportable disease shall notify the Registrar.

Reportable test, Diseases Registries Act, Sections 5 & 6
A health care professional who performs or causes to be performed a reportable test on a person shall provide the Registrar, in the prescribed matter, information about the person and any other information that the Registrar considers necessary with respect to the treatment and the person on whom the test was performed.

The Registrar may request the professional to provide any additional information that the Registrar considers necessary with respect to the examination, diagnosis or treatment and the person who has the disease.

Medical Health Officer may compel assistance

Communicable Diseases Regulations, R.R.N.W.T. 1990,Section 16 (1)(2)

The Chief Medical Health Officer may give any direction that he or she considers necessary to enforce these regulations and every person shall obey these directions.

• List of Notifiable Diseases
  

List of Notifiable Diseases

• How to contact the Medical Health Officer
  

At the local level, the regional communicable disease coordinator would be contacted, following which, the territorial coordinator would be contacted and they in turn would contact the MHO.

The phone list is available at:

http://www.gov.nu.ca/directory/hss.pdf

• How to contact the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Regional Medical Officer
  

This does not apply in Nunavut.

• Here is information on taking and sending a viral swab to the lab
  

All samples are transported by air to the lab in Edmonton, AB.
For information on taking a viral swab, please refer to the Qikiqtani General Hospital Operational Procedure for Nasopharangeal (NPA)

• Here are some considerations when sending a viral swab sending a swab from a remote or isolated area
  

The storage and transporting of the specimen must be between -2 and -8 C.

• Here is information on how your local Medical Health Officer communicates information to clinicians
  

From the nurse point of view, communication is paper based by fax fan out.

From the lab point of view, fax is sent to the territorial offices and then back to the home community.

Public Notification

Local government has the responsibility to distribute information to the community during a pandemic. These public notifications must be coordinated with the local Health Centres. HECT has the responsibility to develop, in advance, building identification notices to be posted on entrance doors and disease specific information for distribution in the community. HECT will need to consult with communities to determine the languages that will be needed for both posters and disease-specific printed information.

The Community Health Emergency Support Teams should work with the community SAOs to identify various means of distributing public notification to all members of the community. This may include door-to-door distribution, community radio or telephoning. It will also be important to secure the commitment of community members experienced in translating for those who have limited facility in communicating in English.

Informing community members in both large and small communities about the times and locations of vaccination clinics should be handled using conventional public media wherever possible. In the small communities use of community radio and home telephoning is preferred. Alternatively the use of HF (high frequency) radio or CB radio may be possible in some communities. Messages can be passed via the local radio networks as to who is to come in for vaccinations and when.

• Here is information on how the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Regional Medical Officer communicates with FNIHB clinical staff
  

This does not apply in Nunavut.

• Nunavut’s provincial pandemic plan
  

(To be released)

• Nunavut’s Public Information Line
  

Internet – potential for public communication – CBC radio or local community radio, local tv channels, to disseminate information – Inuktitut – translation as well.

• Here is information about the Public Information Line for First Nations and Inuit Health Branch staff
  

This does not apply for Nunavut.

• Additional Resources
  

(Content to be added)