Yellowknife, N.W.T. - Nunavut has been hit with an outbreak of syphilis, but the NWT's chief public health officer said there is no fear of it spreading here.

Thirteen cases have been reported since May and all of them are based in Iqaluit and Dr. Andre Corriveau is saying there's no indication of any cases being transferred here.

He said while nothing is out of the ordinary right now, that doesn't mean it can't change.

"All it takes is one or two people to bring syphilis back into our own communities, and it will start spreading if there's no action taken."

The NWT did have a large outbreak of syphilis back in 2008 and 2009 with more than 90 cases reported over that time, but Corriveau said they were able to tackle it through a large-scale campaign.

"We were successful at trying to bring our rates back down to two or three cases a year but it's not something that couldn't happen again."

Syphilis can be treated with antibiotics if it's caught early, and Corriveau is urging anyone who thinks they have the symptoms to visit a doctor.

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