The measles epidemic continues in Quebec. The province has reached 30 cases, according to the most recent figures from Public Health.
The Laurentides region remains the most affected with 27 cases of measles, the others being in the territories of Montreal, Laval and Montérégie.
Comments closedThis is a corrected story. A previous version from The Canadian Press erroneously reported that there were 84 new measles cases reported in Ontario over the last two weeks when in fact there were 78.
Ontario is reporting 78 new measles cases over the last two weeks, nearly doubling the province’s total count since an outbreak started in the autumn.
Comments closedLUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, state officials said Wednesday, the first U.S. death from the highly contagious — but preventable — respiratory disease since 2015.
The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night amid the widespread outbreak, Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Since it began last month, a rash of 124 cases has erupted across nine counties.
The Texas Department of State Health Services and Lubbock health officials confirmed the death to The Associated Press. The child wasn’t identified but was treated at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, though the facility noted the patient didn’t live in Lubbock County.
Comments closedThe Grand Erie Public Health Unit is investigating four new cases of measles.
In a news release on Thursday, the health unit said the latest cases were identified in Norfolk County and Brant County.
Two of the recently ill people are recovering in hospital while the other two are at home.
Thursday’s update brings the total number of confirmed illnesses to 57, nine of which have occurred among adults and 48 within children.
Comments closedA second case of measles linked to a group that travelled to Southeast Asia has been identified in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, according to health officials.
The infected person lives in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and was on Air Canada Flight 66, which arrived at YVR on Feb. 11, said a statement from the health authority on Wednesday. The person was travelling in the same “party” as a Fraser Health region resident in whom measles was detected over the weekend.
People who were on the flight or who were in the international arrivals area of Vancouver’s airport between 7 and 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 11 may have been exposed, the notification from health officials said.
Comments closedThe Public Health Agency of Canada said Wednesday it’s purchased 500,000 doses of a human vaccine to protect against avian influenza for those most at risk from being exposed to the virus by infected animals.
The agency said it secured the initial supply of GSK’s Arepanrix H5N1 A/America vaccine by leveraging an existing agreement.
“While the current risk to the public remains low, individuals with higher-level exposure to infected animals are at increased risk and should take appropriate precautions,” the agency said in a statement.
Comments closedThe City of Hamilton says it is investigating a confirmed case of measles.
Hamilton Public Health (HPH) says the confirmed case is tied to a Hamilton area child and they are investigating several local exposures.
Comments closedSonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers,…
Comments closedAnother 11 cases of measles have been confirmed by Grand Erie Public Health, bringing the total cases to 48 in the Brantford/Brant, Haldimand/Norfolk area.
One person is recovering in hospital, according to a news release, and the health unit is busy trying to contact those who may have been exposed to that person but the infection source is “unknown at this time.”
The cases involve 42 children and six adults. There are another 19 cases known in the Southwestern Public Health area.
A spokesperson for the Grand Erie health agency said all but one of the cases is from the Haldimand-Norfolk area, with just one case in Brantford-Brant.
Comments closedComments closedWhile international travel was the initial source of these outbreaks, all the people with recent measles infections were exposed to the virus in Canada.
The majority of measles cases reported in Canada occur among unvaccinated people, many of whom are children and include infants under the age of one who are more vulnerable and have not yet had the opportunity to be vaccinated… that is why we need to remain vigilant and I recommend that we keep up-to-date with the recommended vaccinations.
Public health officials said they are now dealing with a measles outbreak in southwestern Ontario, with 19 confirmed cases as of Jan. 29.
Southwestern Public Health, which covers Oxford County, Elgin County and the City of St. Thomas, is reporting three cases of the highly contagious disease in children.
The remaining 16 infections are with Grand Erie Public Health, which serves the City of Brantford, Brant County, Haldimand County and Norfolk County. In an update Friday, officials said thirteen children and three adults have measles.
Comments closedWhen bird flu first struck dairy cattle a year ago, it seemed possible that it might affect a few isolated herds and disappear as quickly as it had appeared.
Instead, the virus has infected more than 900 herds and dozens of people, killing one, and the outbreak shows no signs of abating.
A human pandemic is not inevitable, even now, more than a dozen experts said in interviews. But a series of developments over the past few weeks indicates that the possibility is no longer remote.
Comments closedConfirmed cases of measles have now been reported at two public health units in southern Ontario.
Grand Erie Public Health said nine people have the highly contagious virus.
Of those, three are children and the remaining six are adults.
Only one of those cases is in Brantford-Brant, while the other eight are in Haldimand County and Norfolk County.
Southwestern Public Health, which covers Oxford County, Elgin County and St. Thomas, confirmed Thursday they have one active case. Officials believe it is likely connected to those reported by Grand Erie Public Health.
Comments closedAn eleventh case of measles has been reported in Quebec, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) announced on Sunday.
The government is urging the public to be extra cautious and to follow public health recommendations “due to the active circulation of measles in Quebec and the presence of several exposure sites in the Laurentides, Laval, Montréal and Montérégie regions,” the MSSS said in a press release.
The last infected person visited the Carrefour Laval during his/her contagious period on January 7.
Comments closedBC Children’s Hospital says a 13-year-old girl with avian flu was discharged Tuesday after weeks in hospital.
The patient was taken to a pediatric intensive care unit with respiratory failure and pneumonia on Nov. 8 and health officials said she tested positive for H5N1 a day later.
A recent medical journal chronicled the teen’s hospitalization in Vancouver, which involved tracheal intubation and supplemental oxygen.
Her family says in a statement that the experience has been “life-changing” and that they are grateful to have their daughter home.
Comments closedA Louisiana patient who had been hospitalized with severe bird flu has died, the first such fatality in the United States, state health officials reported on Monday.
The patient was older than 65 and had underlying medical conditions, the officials said. The individual became infected with the bird flu virus, H5N1, after exposure to a backyard flock and wild birds.
There is no sign that the virus is spreading from person to person anywhere in the country, and Louisiana officials have not identified any other cases in the state. Pasteurized dairy products remain safe to consume.
Comments closedAnother case of measles has been detected in recent days by the Direction de la santé publique de Montréal, which is reminding hospital staff to apply the necessary measures to avoid transmission of this serious respiratory disease.
In a notice published on Sunday, the Direction régionale de santé publique revealed that “a Montréal adult was infected with measles following exposure to another unvaccinated adult with measles, in a location outside Montréal.”
Public Health states that these two cases are part of “the measles chain of transmission initiated by the case imported from a foreign country who attended the NATO Parliamentary Assembly at the Palais des congrès de Montréal in November.”
Comments closedThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says seven poultry farms in southwestern Ontario are under quarantine due to an avian flu outbreak.
These include four farms near Ingersoll, two in Strathroy and one in North Middlesex County. The first cases were detected on Dec. 14, 2024, and officials say the virus was transmitted to the area through migratory birds.
“The source is generally migratory birds, so it’s usually spread through direct contact with wild birds or indirectly through fecal matter or contaminated water, soil or feed,” said Grant Loney, incident commander for the Ontario Avian Influenza Response.
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