Relatives of a 67-year-old Manitoba man battling a potentially deadly form of listeriosis are terrified he could be infected with the same strain that has killed at least nine Canadians.
The man is the province's first victim of listeriosis suspected to be connected with the massive tainted-meat recall from Toronto's Maple Leaf Foods plant. He is a longtime resident of Dakota Oyate Lodge, a personal-care home run by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada on Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. He suffers from diabetes and has been on kidney dialysis for the last 13 years.
According to the man's son, his health began to deteriorate two weeks ago when he developed a terrible headache and constant sweats. His wife spent every night at the nursing home, and the illness baffled staff.
The man was admitted to Brandon Regional Health Centre last week when his condition worsened.
The man's family asked he not be named, partly because they haven't told him he has listeriosis -- a serious illness that left him with blood poisoning and can be fatal in about 30 per cent of cases. Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory is testing the man's blood samples to determine if he was infected from ingesting meat involved in the recall. Results should be available next week.
"It's pretty scary, especially when you hear about people dying from it and you don't know if it's going to be him or not," the man's son said.
Doctors have said little to the man's family about Listeria or the man's prognosis. Relatives told the Free Press his condition has improved since last week and they are hopeful he'll recover.
On Friday, he was recovering with his wife of 40 years, his three sons and four daughters at his bedside. He was laughing and talking, while receiving intravenous antibiotics.
The man grew up in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, and worked on area farms driving tractors and hauling hay. He is a respected member of the community, who spent his younger years travelling across Manitoba, Canada and parts of the U.S. as a song leader with a ministry group.
The recall of more than 200 ready-to-eat meat products has raised the question of whether cold cuts should be served to patients in hospitals and personal-care homes.
A nurse who works at Dakota Oyate Lodge confirmed deli meats are served to residents, despite the fact that the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions are more susceptible to contracting listeriosis from contaminated foods.
Some food safety experts say people who are high-risk should avoid soft cheeses and processed cold cuts altogether.
Manitoba's chief medical officer Dr. Joel Kettner told the Free Press earlier this week that the policy should be reviewed once the extent of the listeriosis outbreak is known. However, he said banning certain foods in hospitals and care homes might be going overboard, since all foods carry a certain risk.
Manitoba records about four cases of listeriosis a year and the bacteria can incubate in a person's body for up to 70 days. Health officials are bracing for more cases of the potentially deadly bacteria in Manitoba, since people could have been exposed as early as June.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
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