TB OUTBREAK IN PORT ALBERNI LINKED TO CRACK

PORT ALBERNI -- Vancouver Island health officials have linked the
current tuberculosis outbreak in Port Alberni to the use and abuse of
crack cocaine.

"There is a close connection with crack cocaine use [in the
outbreak]," Janice Jespersen, public health nurse with the Vancouver
Island Health Authority, told Port Alberni city councillors this week.

Authorities have identified 31 active cases of the disease, four of
them highly infectious, since April 2006 in Port Alberni's TB outbreak.

The most recent positive case was identified last week.

The ages affected by the outbreak range from 15 months to 60 years of age.