A string of measles deaths in the United States this week – two in states that haven’t reported deaths of this kind in more than three decades – is underscoring the divergent responses to the highly contagious virus in the U.S. and Canada and the resulting outcomes.

Both countries have faced widespread and deadly measles cases that have sickened thousands, fuelled by growing pockets of unvaccinated individuals, particularly in Mennonite communities. But Canada has managed to do what the U.S. hasn’t: Put an end to the outbreak.

Down south the situation is growing worse, with three deaths announced this week. On Thursday, health officials in Wisconsin reported an infant death, the first measles-related fatality in the state since 1990. It followed the deaths of a seven-month-old in New York – another first in 30 years – and a Pennsylvania resident.

Immunologist Dawn Bowdish, a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, said it will take time and greater analysis to compare the response of the two countries, but Canada’s strong commitment to public health and emphasis on vaccination likely set it on a different path.

“In Canada, that’s been a very clear part of our control in these outbreaks, whereas in the U.S. we hear every day more and more misinformation about measles coming from the highest officials of the land.”

Dr. Bowdish said Canadian officials, regardless of their political stripe or the province they represent, have not questioned measles deaths or engaged in sustained vaccine misinformation efforts, unlike U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.