NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – March 11, 2024 – The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO) is alerting the public of a recent suspected overdose-related death in the Northwest Territories.

NWT’s Coroner’s Office has informed the OCPHO that an investigation of the recent death leads them to suspect that it was due to a drug overdose, potentially from cocaine mixed with other substances. With ongoing detections of opioids and other toxic drugs in the territory, the concern is the death is due to toxic contaminants.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – March 6, 2024. The Chief Public Health Officer is issuing an advisory to notify the public of measles circulating in Canada and globally, with the potential introduction into the NWT through travel, especially during spring break.

British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec have confirmed measles cases. Canada has recently seen measles cases that are not linked to travel. This means that there are signs of community transmission which is of immediate concern as more people are travelling out of NWT during March break.

BEAUFORT DELTA REGION – February 23, 2024. The Chief Public Health Officer is issuing a public health advisory to notify the public that influenza cases are rising in the Beaufort Delta region.

The NWT typically experiences two waves of influenza in the respiratory season.  Influenza A tends to circulate from fall to winter and influenza B from winter to spring. 

YELLOWKNIFE – 14 December 2023. The Chief Public Health Officer is issuing a public health advisory related to the identification of a black-legged tick in NWT that was found and tested positive for the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease.

On October 2nd, 2023, an adult female black-legged tick was found on a pet dog in the Fort Simpson area, which had recently arrived from an endemic southern province. The subsequent positive test was reported to our office in December. It is unclear whether this was locally acquired.

YELLOWKNIFE (December 6, 2023) - The Chief Public Health Officer is issuing an advisory to notify the public of a significant increase in influenza cases in the NWT over the past week, with the majority reported in Yellowknife.

Notably, Alberta has been experiencing widespread influenza activity for the past few weeks.

As we enter the holiday season and anticipate an influx of returning students and visitors, it is strongly recommended that individuals aged 6 months and older stay up to date on their flu vaccines.