Initial management of an outbreak of the HTLV-1 virus in Nunavut, Canada.

Background: HTLV-1 is a retrovirus known to be endemic in Japan, the Caribbean, and parts of Africa. HTLV-1 infection is rare in Canada. The last known cases prior to the present cluster in Nunavut occurred in 1993, when three Aboriginal patients with neurological symptoms in British Columbia were found to be infected with HTLV-1.