Scabies in Fort McMurray

April 28, 2010 by Walter Schneider.

Today I heard about a problem with scabies in at least one camp in Fort McMurray.

From what I heard, the workers being housed in the affected camp are asking that the spread of scabies could be halted or controlled if they would not be assigned new quarters after returning to work after an absence.

The operators of the camp claim that scabies is being spread due to workers in Fort McMurray not keeping clean, while the workers claim that scabies is highly contagious, and that the spread of scabies could be halted by having their living quarters not reassigned to others during their absence from work for whatever reasons.

Wikipedia has a good description of the circumstances and treatment of scabies.

Going by that description, it is obvious that it is quite possible that the spread of scabies can take place anywhere and not necessarily only through improperly cleaned living quarters.

Scabies infestations can easily be cured and controlled in livestock and pets.  They can just as easily be cured and controlled if they involve people, even though an effective cure requires perseverance and diligence.

Update 2010 04 29:

Any of the workers in Fort McMurray who find themselves to be afflicted by a scabies infestation could find themselves facing isolation, discrimination, somewhat lengthy medical treatment, and loss of wages. It would be well worth their while to consider the acquisition of a scabies infestation to be a work-related injury.

The media, all in a tiff over the deaths of 1,500 ducks on a tailings pond in Fort McMurray, inexplicably does not seem to deem the outbreak of scabies in Fort McMurray to be worthy of much coverage.  Probably that is for no other reason than that the media successfully dethroned mankind as the crown of creation.  It would not do to draw too much attention to the fact that mankind experiences any suffering.

A search for “scabies Fort McMurray” through Google.com contained 4 entries on the search return list, dating from 24 04 2010 to 27 04 2010.  The search-return list for a comparable search through bing.com contained five entries, also dating from 24 04 2010 to 27 04 2010.

Although the news articles that an Internet search will find assert that the spread of scabies infestations is a result of sharing “contaminated clothes, gloves or bed linens,” according to Dr. Brent Friesen of Alberta Health Services, Dr. Friesen also advises that “This is something people can easily protect themselves against by making sure they’re not sharing clothing, coveralls or gloves. Sometimes, when the weather gets hot, people under their coveralls are not really wearing a lot of other layers of clothing and, in that case, it’s really an opportune time for someone who has got the infection to spread it to someone else.”

Unfortunately, prevention of the spread of infestations is not so simple in the real world. It would seem obvious that Dr. Friesen never worked under the conditions that any of the workers threatened by scabies infestations must endure.  Workers are people, too, people just like Dr. Friesen, but, unlike Dr. Friesen’s speculation, it is extremely unlikely that any workers would share coveralls, no more so than that Dr. Friesen would share his underwear with someone else.

However, contrary to Dr. Friesen’s unwarranted and unproven speculation, other things easily aid the spread of scabies infestations, things that can be prevented through a number of common-sense practices:

Public health and prevention strategies

There is no vaccine available for scabies, nor are there any proven causative risk factors. Therefore, most strategies focus on preventing re-infection. All family and close contacts should be treated at the same time, even if asymptomatic. Cleaning of environment should occur simultaneously, as there is a risk of reinfection. Therefore it is recommended to wash and hot iron all material (such as clothes, bedding, and towels) that has been in contact with scabies infestation.

Cleaning the environment should include:

• Treatment of furniture and bedding.
• Vacuuming floors, carpets, and rugs.
• Disinfecting floor and bathroom surfaces by mopping.
• Cleaning the shower/bath tub after each use.
• Daily washing of recently worn clothes, towels and bedding in hot water, drying in a hot dryer and steam ironing. (Source: Wikipedia)

It is apparent that the much-praised health practices in use in the affected camps most definitely do not measure up to most of the ones contained in the preceding list of required measures.  In the mean time, Dr. Friesen would be well advised to accept that scabies can be spread not only through skin contact and the extremely unlikely “sharing of coveralls” but also through transfer of mites and their eggs from any contaminated item on a list that includes far more than merely the alleged sharing of coveralls.

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