A sign outside Southwestern Public Health in St. Thomas, Ont. on March 4, warns residents to call ahead before visiting a doctor or hospital if they think they have the measles.Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press
Public health officials are urging Canadians to ensure vaccinations are up-to-date ahead of the Easter long weekend as concerns about the spread of measles persist, including in Ontario where more than 100 cases were reported in the past week.
In its weekly update on Thursday, Public Health Ontario said 109 new cases of measles have boosted the total to 925 since an outbreak began in October. Of those, 773 are confirmed and 152 are probable. Six patients have been admitted to hospital, all of whom were unimmunized children.
Measles is highly contagious and spreads in the air from person to person. Symptoms can include fever, cough, a rash, drowsiness, runny nose and red eyes.
Windsor-Essex County Health is among the Ontario units in outbreak. Since its first reported case in February, the health unit said it confirmed 67 cases of measles. Medical Officer of Health Mehdi Aloosh urged residents Thursday to take precautions ahead of the holiday weekend, including to ensure individuals are vaccinated with the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.
In recent weeks, measles cases in several parts of the country have caused concern among public health officials. This week, the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre announced it is screening upon entry because of what it called “the measles epidemic in southern Ontario.” (There are no current cases in the Thunder Bay District).
In 1998, Canada declared measles eliminated owing to the MMR vaccine. Physicians say science has long supported its efficacy and safety.
Outside of this country, there has been a global resurgence of measles, particularly in Europe. Last week, U.S. measles cases surpassed 700 as Indiana joined five other states with active outbreaks. The U.S. has more than double the measles cases it saw in all of 2024.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been two confirmed deaths in Texas from measles, and one is under investigation in New Mexico.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has, on occasion, endorsed the MMR vaccine as “effective” but he has also raised safety concerns. For example, in a CBS interview last week, Mr. Kennedy claimed the vaccines were “not safety tested” even though the evidence shows it is safe.
Last month, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said she was concerned about the global rise in measles cases combined with declining vaccination rates among school-aged children in Canada.
New Brunswick declared its outbreak over in January. Quebec may soon do the same. As of Wednesday, the province said there were 40 confirmed cases reported as part of the outbreak.
New cases have been reported in Alberta, including six in the past few days that have brought the provincial total to 83 since the beginning of last month. More than 50 per cent of infections are in central Alberta.
Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health, Mark Joffe, stressed last week the importance of vaccination to protect against measles. Dr. Joffe’s contract expired on Monday, meaning the province is searching for his replacement.
Children between the ages of 5 and 17 make up most of Alberta’s cases.
A recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health found a decline in measles vaccination coverage in children in 2023 compared with 2019. The drop has been attributed by public health specialists to a number of factors including barriers to primary health care, paused immunization programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and the uptick in medical misinformation.
Typically, it is recommended that babies receive a dose of the MMR vaccine after their first birthday and another between ages 4 and 6. Adults born before 1970 are presumed to have acquired immunity to measles. Individuals born after that time have been encouraged by health officials to check whether they received one dose of the vaccine or two.
With reports from The Associated Press