There are likely Yukon carriers of tuberculosis (TB) who are sick and contagious, the territory's communicable disease officer suggested Wednesday.

'I am concerned,' said Colleen Hemsley, when asked if she thinks there are more active cases than her office knows of.

'I am concerned.'

Hemsley and tuberculosis nurse Jackie Van Langen said an afternoon media briefing was a means of alerting Yukoners about the need to seek medical assistance if they're displaying symptoms.

It was also a means of educating the community about the need to remove the stigma so often placed on victims of TB, and a means of explaining the symptoms to watch for.

'I want people to know that it is here, it is around, but that we can prevent or diminish the transmission to others quite successfully and quite well,' Hemsley said.

The most telling symptom is coughing up sputum containing traces of blood. Other symptoms include a persistent cough, chest pain, night sweats, weight loss, tiredness, loss of appetite, chills and fever.

Hemsley said the communicable disease branch decided to hold the briefing as the number of known cases of active TB has risen to 10 since October 2004, the last two coming to light in the last two months.

She said the 10 new cases in the last 18 months represent a sharp increase. There was one case reported in 2001, but none in 2002 or 2003, it was pointed out.

Of the 10 cases, seven were documented between late October 2004 and the end of March 2005.

Another was recorded in May and the final two in the last two months, records show.

Three cases occurred in children up to the age of 10, four were recorded in the 20-to-40 age category and three were documented in Yukoners between 40 and 55 years old.

Hemsley said health officials don't want to reveal the communities where the cases exist, as there is also a fear entire communities could become stigmatized and treated like some sort of leper colony.

She did say it's a territory-wide problem.

Of the 10 active cases, seven are linked to the same contact list, Hemsley said. For reasons of confidentiality, health officials cannot disclose whether there are any blood relations among the seven.

Those who are in close contact with an individual afflicted with an active case of TB have a 30-per-cent chance of becoming infected with the bacteria, though only three per cent of those in close contact are at risk of developing an active forum of the disease, it was pointed out.

While the disease is curable, albeit after a lengthy treatment period of six months or longer on antibiotics, it is also deadly, Hemsley explained.

Also of concern to the health officials has been their inability to make contact with about 10 people identified as having coming into close or casual contact with someone who had, or has, an active and infectious case of TB.

In cases where somebody identified as a contact-individual has left the territory and it happens disease office staff follow up with the health agencies in other jurisdictions.

Hemsley suspects there may be reluctance on the part of some to seek medical attention, lest they be branded by the stigma of carrying a disease that was once much more prevalent and deadlier than it is today.

A cure was not developed until the 1950s, and even afterwards, up until the late 1970s, many Yukoners were sent to the Charles Camsell Sanatorium for treatment, Hemsley pointed out.

'People remember that, and they remember there were people who disappeared for a very long period of time, sometime years, and some people did die.'

Someone can have TB but never develop any symptoms during their lifetime, and never become contagious as his or her immune system is strong enough to keep the bacteria under wraps.

But somebody who has a latent form of the tuberculosis can still develop an active and contagious form of the disease as the years go by, as age draws down his or her immune system or brings on other health issues that enable the bacteria to break loose, Hemsley said.

People who are on the contact list are encouraged to take a test to see if they're carrying the bacteria, she added. If they are a latent carrier, they are also encouraged to take the treatment that will kill the bug, though treatment is not mandatory for latent carriers, it was pointed out.

For those who are sick and contagious, treatment is mandatory, and for the first two weeks or longer, infected individuals are required to stay in the hospital until they're no longer a risk to spread the disease.

Hemsley said TB is typically spread by coughing and sneezing, and talking closely to somebody.

From the time of contact, it could be up to two years before an individual develops symptoms of an active case of TB.