Questions are being raised about why Nova Scotia’s Health Department waited to release information about a recent E. coli outbreak.
Documents show staff knew about the outbreak five days before the public was informed.
Belle Bourque was hospitalized with kidney failure for almost a month after she ate contaminated lettuce at a fast-food restaurant over the holidays.
She would like to see the Health Department inform people about E. coli outbreaks right away.
“I came so close to dying, I guess that’s all I’m thinking of, and until you really experience that you feel bad and everything, but you don’t totally understand,” says the Westville, N.S. resident.
The province’s chief medical officer of health says he was alerted about the cases on New Year’s Eve and a team was in place by Jan. 2.
Dr. Robert Strang also says there wasn’t any sign of ongoing exposure or risk to the public, or they would have released the information sooner.
“You can actually do damage by increasing unnecessary anxiety to the public,” he says. “You can do damage to businesses if you go out with wrong information or go out prematurely with not enough information to be able to communicate effectively with the public.”
He stands by the communication that took place during the outbreak, saying his office was informed about the lab-confirmed cases of E. coli right away and that there is no protocol in place in terms of how quickly the public has to be notified.
But the Liberal health critic says there shouldn’t be any delays in reporting outbreaks of E. coli.
He says he would like to see a reporting system in place similar to that in New Brunswick.
“I think we need to strengthen it immediately and my call is for the minister to review the current protocols so that Nova Scotians are better informed,” says Leo Glavine.
Strang doesn’t believe the deadline should be carved in stone, saying an outbreak shouldn’t be reported until officials have enough information.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster
