Dr. Eilish Cleary, then New Brunswick's acting chief medical officer of health, announced at a press conference on Sept. 8, 2008, a confirmed case of listeriosis in New Brunswick.on the public-heath implications of fracking to harvest shale gas, including those related to air pollution, water contamination and noise.
Public-health officials from across the country and local groups unsuccessfully called for her reinstatement. She settled with the government and never spoke publicly or even privately about what happened.Dr. Cleary died of ovarian cancer on March 22. She was 60. Dr. Cleary could deftly communicate complex ideas. “She always spoke so honestly and confidently,” Ms. Carr says. “She appealed to our intelligence. She inspired the public to think and consider their choices and how their choices influence their health.”
“That experience really helped her in public health. You’re communicating to different people from different places,” Mr. Beirne says. Mr. Beirne says Dr. Cleary was a skilled diagnostician who could often tell just by looking at someone if they were sick. In Sierra Leone, she had to refer patients if they were suspected of having Lassa fever, and Dr. Cleary heard feedback that, indeed, all the cases she referred tested positive.
“We were looking for one last adventure,” Mr. Beirne recalls, when they decided to go to Northern Manitoba for 18 months. They stayed three years.