Ministers reassure Canadians about Ebola following U.S. case

TORONTO— Canadian health leaders moved to reassure the public Tuesday that the discovery of a case of Ebola in the United States does not change the assessment of the risk of the disease in Canada.

U.S. officials announced that the first case of Ebola diagnosed on North American soil had been identified in Dallas, Texas. The unidentified man recently travelled to the city from Liberia, becoming sick four days after he entered the U.S.

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial health ministers are meeting in Banff, Alta., today, and had gathered in advance of that meeting.

Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins said the Canadian public should know this country’s hospitals have some of the best infection-control measures in the world in place.

“We are all deeply concerned about what is going on in the U.S.,” Hoskins, a family physician, said in Banff.

“It is important to reassure Canadians — North America is not West Africa. We have right across this country, in every province and territory, we have extremely effective infection-control measures in place and protocols.”

Hoskins said surveillance for possible Ebola cases by public health officials has been heightened, and health providers across Canada are being made aware of how to recognize and deal with any suspected cases.

Canada’s new chief medical officer of health also insisted this country has been preparing for the possibility of imported Ebola cases.

“Canada is well prepared with a number of systems in place to identify and prevent the spread of serious infectious diseases like Ebola, such as working closely with our international partners to gather and assess information and administering the Quarantine Act at all points of entry into Canada,” Dr. Gregory Taylor said in a statement.

British Columbia’s chief medical officer of health said a number of provinces have already had some practice with suspected Ebola cases, having identified and investigated people who returned from West Africa with illnesses compatible with the early stages of Ebola. So far, all these cases have turned out to be false alarms.

Dr. Perry Kendall said it is possible this country too will see imported Ebola cases, given the ongoing outbreak in West Africa. However, he said he was confident health systems here could contain the virus.