Until 1997, syphilis was almost non-existent on the North American continent, with only one or two cases reported per year in British Columbia. Then suddenly it took off, with the strain affecting most Canadians traced to developing countries in Asia and Central America, said Rekart.
Health authorities have also noted an increase in new HIV cases among injection drug users in Vancouver's impoverished downtown east side.
Syphilis, meanwhile, is transmitted by contact with genital lesions or sores which can also expose those afflicted to other sexually transmitted diseases.
In 2000, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority launched a large-scale campaign to curb the growing rate of infection, treating 6,000 people most at risk with three pills taken orally, but the disease persisted and finally appeared in the local gay community.
In 2002, the health authority recorded 186 new cases of syphilis, 15 per cent of them among gay men. This year, it jumped to more than 250 new cases and gay men account for a quarter of infections. Several cases of syphilis in Calgary (Alberta) have also been traced back to Vancouver.
Vancouver facing worst outbreak of syphilis in the developed world
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