SIOUX LOOKOUT — First Nations health authorities in Northwestern Ontario say they will be keeping an eye on a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of multiple people in a northeastern Ontario First Nation who died from the same fungal infection.
The north region’s coroner’s office has announced an inquest into the deaths of five Constance Lake First Nation residents from blastomycosis between Nov. 19, 2021, and Jan. 23, 2022. They were Luke Moore, 43, Lorraine Shaganash, 47, Lizzie Sutherland, 56, Mark Ferris, 67, and Douglas Taylor, 60.
A media release from the coroner’s office said they all died in hospital on different dates during an outbreak in the First Nation near Hearst. Blastomycosis is caused by inhaling spores from the Blastomyces fungus, which often happens when soil, leaves and decaying wood is disturbed.
Officials with the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority say they will be monitoring this inquest, even though Constance Lake isn’t a member community.
That’s because, according to statistics from the Northwestern Health Unit, the annual rates of blastomycosis cases in its catchment area (which includes many of the Indigenous health authority’s communities) is significantly higher than in the rest of the province.
“We would like to understand, as best as possible, what happened,” said Lloyd Douglas, SLFNHA’s public health physician. “Whatever we can learn, whatever reports that we can look at so that we’ll be better able to provide appropriate health promotion and messaging and ongoing education.”
In 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively, the rates of blastomycosis in the Northwestern Health Unit’s area were 52.4, 52.4 and 41.4 per 100,000 people. In each of those three years, the incidence rates in Ontario were never higher than one per 100,000. Blastomycosis is a reportable disease in Ontario, meaning, once confirmed in a patient, it has to be reported to local health units.
Within the health authority’s communities, Lac Seul alone has seen 18 cases between 2022 and 2024, Douglas said. The First Nation has just over 900 people registered as living there, according to 2025 data from Indigenous Services Canada.
Places like Pikangikum and Eagle Lake have also reported cases over the past several years, he said.
Symptoms of blastomycosis can take a while to show up after someone is infected by the spores — anywhere from three weeks to three months — Douglas said. When they do present themselves, symptoms often mimic those of other infections like influenza or COVID.
And given the late spring and summer seasons when most people would be exposed to the spores that cause it and the length of the disease’s incubation period, those symptoms can largely show up around when flu season is underway, Douglas said, meaning people often don’t get tested for it.
“We have done quite a bit in terms of working with the Northwestern Health Unit, working with the First Nations in the health branch through Indigenous Services Canada, to provide info sessions and education for health care providers,” he said.
“To let them understand that when individuals present with respiratory symptoms, they should always be thinking of blastomycosis as part of the differential diagnosis.”
Patients can also request testing, Douglas said, adding that, once diagnosed, the illness can be treated with anti-fungal medications.
“We don’t necessarily want people not to enjoy the outdoors,” he added. “We still want individuals to go out on the land to gather to hunt, to fish, and we want kids to be playing on the playground.”
“So, it’s striking that balance in our messaging.”
The inquest into the Constance Lake deaths begins Oct. 15 and is expected to last 25 days and hear from 30 witnesses.
