Health officials in Quebec are advising people who may have travelled on two Megabus trips between Montreal and Toronto in the summer to get themselves checked for tuberculosis.
According to Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services, a person who did not know she was infected with the disease took a Megabus from Montreal to Toronto on August 20 and returned to Montreal on another Megabus on Aug. 23. On both trips the bus travelled between Montreal and Toronto, with a stop in Kingston.
“It is strongly recommended that all passengers of this bus undergo testing for tuberculosis, even if they are not exhibiting any symptoms,” Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services said a in a press release issued in French Wednesday.
Health officials in Quebec said they had been in touch with most of those passengers who had been on the bus with the infected person, however they said they are reaching out to the media because they only had a partial list of passengers to work from.
Toronto Public Health could not confirm how many passengers from the bus trips reside in Toronto.
“As the public health authorities in Quebec are able to identify passengers, they are forwarding these contacts to the health units where the individuals live for follow up,” a Toronto Public Health spokesperson said in an email.
She referred further questions to Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, which deferred questions about the situation to Quebec’s health ministry.
However health officials in Quebec were not immediately able to confirm how many of the affected passengers live in the GTA.
According to Quebec health officials, Tuberculosis is caused by an inhaled germ that fixes itself on the lungs. Once infected, a person may develop active TB, which is contagious.
However an infected person could also develop dormant TB, where they exhibit no symptoms and are not contagious, but retain an infection that can develop over a number of years.
“A preventative treatment of antibiotics helps eliminate the risk of having the disease develop,” Quebec health officials said.
The infected person was travelling on Megabus #771 on Aug. 20. That bus left Montreal at 4:30 p.m., stopped in Kingston for 10 minutes at 7:25 p.m. and arrived in Toronto at 10:15 p.m.
On her way back to Montreal, the infected person was on Megabus #718. It left Toronto at 1:30 p.m., stopped in Kingston for ten minutes at 4:10 p.m., and arrived in Montreal at 7:15 p.m.
Passengers from Quebec who were on either of the bus trips can call 811. Those living outside of Quebec can call a 24-hour hotline anywhere in Canada at 1 844-817-0200.
-With files from Sandie Benitah
