Nunavut hunters want meat tested locally for trichinosis

Hunters in Nunavut are asking for walrus meat to be tested for trichinosiswithin the territory, instead of sending meat samples to Kuujjuaq, Que.

Trichinosis is an illness caused by a parasite that can lead to severe illness in humans and may even result in death.Cooking meat thoroughly kills the parasite but Inuit traditionally consume the meat fresh and raw.

At the moment, theNunavikResearch Centre inKuujjuaq provides sampling kits to hunters in bothNunavik and Nunavut.

"Afterwards they send it to us,we pay for the shipment toKuujjuaq, and once it arrives inKuujjuaqwe have 24hours to give the results," says ManonSimardwith theNunavikResearch Centre.

But it can sometimes take days to get the samples toKuujjuaqdepending on flights and the weather. For hunters in Nunavut that can be a problem.

PauloosieQiyutaqfromQikiqtarjuaqsays it would save time and money to have testing stations in Nunavut.

"It just takes too long having the testing all the way over inKuujjuaq. In reality we need one here to test all our meat we harvest."

James Eetoolook, vice-president of Nunavut Tunngavik, agrees made more sense to test meat in the territory.

"There was a resolution toNTIto look into seeing what we can do about setting up the same or a similar system, to come up with facilities like that so that Inuit don't have to be scared of eating meat all the time," says Eetoolook. "This can save lives as well."

TheNunavikResearch Centre says it can work with Nunavut and help train people to test for trichinosis and other parasites.