Situation Northwestern Health Unit’s (NWHU) rate of IPD is triple the rate of Ontario. In 2024, the rate for NWHU was 34.7 cases per 100,000 while Ontario’s rate was 11.3 cases per 100,000. An increase in the number of IPD cases in our catchment area was noted throughout late winter Read more…
Situation Northwestern Health Unit’s (NWHU) catchment area has recently seen an increase in invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Since April 2025, four cases of IMD have been identified in our region. These have mostly been concentrated in remote First Nations. All four cases have been identified as serogroup W. While some Read more…
Situation Since late 2024, the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) catchment area has recorded three cases of HIV in infants. In at least one of the cases, no prenatal care had been accessed, although there were known interactions with health care providers during the pregnancy for other health issues. The main Read more…
Situation A traveler at Toronto Pearson Airport on March 2, 2025, was infected with measles. Anyone at Toronto Pearson Airport, Terminal 1, between 4:50 PM and 7:40 PM EST was exposed to measles. Those exposed could be incubating for 21 days after exposure. At least one local school sports trip Read more…
Situation Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) has seen an increase in invasive Group A Streptococcal (iGAS) disease cases in our region recently. The majority of cases have been identified in the Sioux Lookout (including Northern First Nations) and Kenora areas, but cases are occurring around the region. Cases are being seen Read more…
Situation Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) monitors community indicators including institutional outbreak activity, hospitalizations, deaths, and community-reported transmission of gastrointestinal and respiratory illness. Over the past month, NWHU has noted the following: This indicates that we are in a high-risk period for respiratory illness transmission. It should be noted that statistics Read more…
Situation Effective January 2025, Candida auris (C. auris) is now classified as a Disease of Public Health Significance (DOPHS) under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA). As such, confirmed cases of C. auris infection must be reported to the Medical Officer of Health either through the NWHU online reporting Read more…
Situation Measles cases in Ontario have increased greatly in recent months. International travel has resulted in multiple pockets of localized transmission in Southern Ontario and throughout Canada, including recent epi-linked cases in Southern Manitoba. This spread is primarily occurring in those unimmunized or partially immunized, but due to the high Read more…
Situation Although it is known that Northwestern Health Unit’s (NWHU) catchment area has the highest rate of blastomycosis in Ontario (2019-2023 annual rate per 100,000 17.2-50.4 in NWHU, 0.2-0.6 in the rest of Ontario), this alert is to inform you that there has been an increase in reported blastomycosis cases Read more…
Situation Northwestern Health Unit’s (NWHU) catchment area continues to have the highest annual rate of blastomycosis in Ontario. Between 2019 and 2023, the annual rate for NWHU ranged from 17.2-50.4 cases per 100,000 while the rest of Ontario ranged from 0.2-0.6 cases per 100,000. Blastomycosis continues to be seen throughout Read more…