Introduction
Prevention and control of communicable diseases is one of the key objectives set out in the NWT Public Health Act and one of the primary roles of the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO). The guidelines in the NWT Communicable Disease Manual are intended to support the implementation of communicable disease prevention and controls pursuant to the NWT Public Health Act and related legislation.
The purpose of this manual is to ensure NWT health care providers and practitioners are familiar with the identification of and reporting requirements for reportable diseases legislated under the NWT Public Health Act. The goal is to provide guidance on public health management of cases and contacts, and to prevent the spread or outbreak of the communicable disease. This manual is not intended to provide individual clinical case management advice.
At this time, the NWT Communicable Disease Manual is being revised to include current best practices in an electronic format, with each chapter searchable and downloadable as an individual PDF. Health care providers and practitioners must routinely refer to the online manual to ensure they are accessing the most current chapter.