Cryptosporidium confirmed at Kashechewan First Nation water treatment plant, 63 test positive for parasite

The executive director of the Kashechewan First Nation says 63 people in his community in northern Ontario have tested positive for Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes gastrointestinal illness.

This month, the local water treatment plant in the community of 2,300 people stopped working due to faulty pumps, prompting Chief Jose Wesley to declare a state of emergency.

Since then, many members of the community have been ousted.

Executive Director Tyson Wesley says testing results also show water at the treatment plant tested positive for Cryptosporidium, but it’s unclear how the parasite got into the plant.

Wesley said the community will request that an independent engineer conduct a full assessment to determine next steps.

Exposure to Cryptosporidium can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.

Kashechewan Health Director Chris Thind said they are focusing on keeping people with those symptoms hydrated.

Thind said people who are otherwise healthy usually recover from those symptoms on their own in two to three weeks.

But people who have a weakened immune system may need IV replacement therapy and medication to recover.

Thind said, to his knowledge, there have been no cases of serious illness that would require greater intervention.

He said the total number of cases may have been underreported because some community members showed symptoms early and were never tested.

Since evacuations began in early January, hundreds of Kashechewan residents have been staying in hotels in communities across Ontario, including Timmins, Kapuskasing, Kingston and Niagara Falls.

Wesley said 32 families, or about 370 people, live in Kashechewan.

“So those are the ones we’re trying to figure out,” he said.

Repairs to the water treatment plant are underway, but Wesley said it will take some time before the system is deemed safe. More testing will be needed after repairs are complete.

remembering past outbreaks

Wesley said the confirmation of Cryptosporidium being present in the local water system brings back bad memories of the 2005 E. coli outbreak.

“I think it really tells the story that another generation of Kashechewan people, children, will have to relive the events that happened 20 years ago,” he said.

Sinclair Williams still remembers that earlier outbreak.

Since 2005, Kashechewan residents have refused to drink local water. Instead he sticks to bottled water.

“I think it will heighten the sense of trauma a lot,” he said.

Williams was among those evacuees who left the community on January 11. He lives with his daughter, who lives in Timmins.

As a teacher, he is working with children who are currently displaced with their families in Timmins so that they do not fall behind in their studies.

Williams said she is concerned that similar outbreaks will continue to occur unless long-term action is taken to repair infrastructure in the community.

Kashechewan is in a flood prone area. Drainage occurs each spring when the frozen Albany River melts, increasing the risk of flooding.

Community leaders have lobbied for decades to relocate the community to a higher location 30 kilometers to the north.

They argue that it is difficult to make long-term investments in the community, such as a new water treatment plant, because of the constant threat of flooding every spring.

Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Eric Head said in an email to CBC News that on Dec. 4, the department approved approximately $8.4 million to conduct a detailed planning study to resettle the community.