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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada’s status as a country without endemic measles can now be revoked

Published October 27, 2025

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Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO — Canada is poised to lose its international status as a measles-free country now that an outbreak that began in New Brunswick and spread to other provinces has hit the one-year mark.

The country eliminated measles in 1998 and maintained that status for more than 25 years, meaning there was no ongoing community transmission and new cases were travel-related.

But since Oct. 27, 2024, the virus has spread to more than 5,000 people in Canada, including two infants in Ontario and Alberta who were infected with measles in the womb and died after they were born.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario declares measles outbreak over after nearly a year of spread

Published October 9, 2025

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Published by: CBC / The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

Ontario’s measles outbreak, which sickened more than 2,300 people over the course of nearly a year, highlighted the consequences of declining vaccination rates and led to the death of a newborn, has been declared over.

Public Health Ontario and the province’s top doctor said Thursday the outbreak ended on Monday because it had been 46 days since any new reported cases — twice the maximum incubation period for measles.

“In Ontario, the last confirmed case developed a rash on August 21, 2025, following several months of steadily declining case numbers,” Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said in an emailed statement.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada likely to lose measles elimination status as outbreak continues: expert

Published August 6, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Pauline Chan

Canada is at risk of losing its measles elimination status as an outbreak that started in New Brunswick last year continues to grow.

Measles has been considered eliminated in Canada since 1998, and the country saw an average of 91 cases annually before October 2024, when the outbreak began. The designation means that, within a certain geographical region, there has been no sustained measles transmission over 12 consecutive months.

Since then, of the 4,394 measles infections nationwide, Health Canada data shows that most individuals were exposed to the virus domestically (94 per cent) and were not vaccinated (88 per cent).

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Alberta’s measles outbreaks surpass case counts reported for entire U.S.

Published July 14, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

Alberta has now confirmed more measles cases than the entire United States has reported this year.

The province has been battling outbreaks since March and as of noon Monday, total case counts in the province had ballooned to 1,314.

The latest update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that country has amassed 1,288 cases this year.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC’s Largest Pocket of Measles Cases Likely Peaking, Officials Say

Published July 10, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Michelle Gamage

The largest outbreak of measles in B.C. might be cresting, but there are still pockets of people without immunity spread across the province, which could lead to future outbreaks, say public health officials.

Most of the province’s confirmed 102 cases are in the northeast, where the disease has been spreading for the last couple weeks, said Dr. Martin Lavoie, deputy provincial health officer, at a press conference earlier today.

“This is not a pandemic, but measles is very serious,” Lavoie said.

He added that while there’s 102 confirmed cases there’s likely more as some people are resting and recovering at home, and have not been directly counted by health officials.

Dr. Jong Kim, chief medical officer for Northern Health, said B.C. has “likely seen the height of the wave” of the outbreak in the northeast, but that further cases are still possible, especially if the virus finds another pocket of the population where people have not received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

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Topic: Atlantic CanadaView all posts for the topic: Atlantic Canada

Vaccination rates among children in Maritimes are too low to stop spread of measles

Published July 9, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hina Alam

FREDERICTON – At least three out of the four Atlantic provinces have released data revealing their measles vaccination rates in children are below the 95 per cent threshold recommended by scientists to prevent the disease from spreading.

In Nova Scotia, the provincial government told The Canadian Press that about 23 per cent of children were not fully vaccinated for measles in 2024. Brooke Armstrong, Health Department spokeswoman, said 93.4 per cent of two-year-olds had at least one dose of vaccine and 78.6 per cent of two-year-olds had both required shots.

Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick say about 10 per cent of children are not fully vaccinated for the disease. Autumn Tremere from Prince Edward Island’s Health Department said between 91 per cent and 94 per cent of children in Grade 1 had received two doses.

New Brunswick Health Department spokeswoman Tara Chislett said the 2023-24 school immunization report showed 91.2 per cent of students with proof of immunization were up to date for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Measles cases surge to record high since disease was declared eliminated in the US

Published July 6, 2025

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Published by: CNN
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By Deidre McPhillips

Falling childhood vaccine coverage and a large, smoldering outbreak that was kindled in an undervaccinated pocket of West Texas have driven the United States to a troubling new milestone: There have been more measles cases in the US this year than any other since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter-century ago.

There have been at least 1,277 confirmed cases of measles reported in the US in 2025, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation. Just halfway through the year, the case tally has already surpassed the last record from 2019, when there were a total of 1,274 cases.

Experts say this year’s cases are likely to be severely undercounted because many are going unreported. Three people have died from measles this year – two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all of whom were unvaccinated – matching the total number of US measles deaths from the previous two and a half decades.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Fewer new measles cases in Ontario, public health data shows

Published July 3, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – A Public Health Ontario report released Thursday suggests a continuing downward trend in new measles cases.

The health agency reported 12 new cases in the province, down from 33 additions last week and 96 the week before that.

Two more people were infected with the highly contagious disease in a northern region that includes Sault Ste. Marie and surrounding areas. That region had been showing the biggest increase in cases for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, four more people were infected in southwestern Ontario — the area that was hardest hit for months.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

B.C.’s premier says measles spikes across Canada a result [of] anti-vax ‘recklessness’

Published June 25, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Chuck Chiang

VANCOUVER – British Columbia Premier David Eby says the growing spread of measles across Canada is “the sadly predictable outcome” of the “recklessness” of anti-vaccination politicians.

Eby says the disease is “no joke,” given the potentially serious impact on those infected, and it’s preventable with two vaccine shots.

He told a Vancouver news conference that the focus for provincial public health authorities now is to make sure that people who are not protected receive full vaccination.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Check this list to see if you were exposed to measles in B.C. this month

Published June 24, 2025

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Published by: Vancouver Sun
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The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has released detailed reports of where people may have been exposed to measles in B.C.

B.C. CDC says there are 12 currently active cases of measles in B.C. and that 17 new cases were reported in Fraser Health, Interior Health and Northern Health regions since June 19. Forty-nine cases have been reported this year.

Continue readingCheck this list to see if you were exposed to measles in B.C. this month
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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Measles ‘out of control,’ experts warn, as Alberta case counts surpass 1,000

Published June 21, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

Alberta’s measles outbreaks have now eclipsed the 1,000-case mark and infectious disease specialists are warning the virus is “impossible to contain,” given the current level of transmission.

The province reported another 24 cases on Friday, including 14 in the north zone, nine in the south and one in the Edmonton zone.

This brings the total confirmed cases since the outbreaks began in March to 1,020.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Ontario confirms death of infant infected with measles

Published June 5, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Joshua Freeman

An infant in southwestern Ontario who contracted measles from their mother before birth and was born prematurely has died, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health says.

The child’s mother had not been vaccinated against the viral illness, Dr. Kieran Moore said in his statement.

While measles can be fatal, especially for young children, Moore noted the child also faced other “serious medical complications.”

“While measles may have been a contributing factor in both the premature birth and death, the infant also faced other serious medical complications unrelated to the virus,” Moore said.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC Won’t Require Measles Vaccination for Schools

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Michelle Gamage

Canada is in the middle of the largest measles outbreak it has seen in generations, with 2,515 cases so far this year as of May 17, which is the most recent data reported by Health Canada as of Monday.

Despite the spread of the disease B.C. is not considering making measles immunization mandatory for attending school, as it is in Ontario and New Brunswick, the Health Ministry told The Tyee in an emailed statement.

“There is no requirement from the province for students to be vaccinated to attend school, or that students’ immunization records be provided as part of school registration,” the ministry said.

Instead its strategy is mostly a reactive one, where it will use data to respond to outbreaks and exposures. B.C. will also encourage people to get vaccinated and will open school-based immunization clinics in some areas with low vaccination rates.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Measles cases increase by 173 in Ontario, bringing outbreak’s total close to 1,800

Published May 22, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – Public Health Ontario says 173 more people have been infected with measles in the province over the past week, bringing the number of cases to 1,795 since the outbreak began last October.

“That’s 173 more cases than we want to see,” said Dr. Sarah Wilson, a public health physician at the agency.

Public Health Ontario’s weekly measles report, released Thursday, said the virus continues to spread primarily among people who have not been vaccinated.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Ontario reports nearly 200 new measles cases as virus spreads across Canada

Published May 8, 2025

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Published by: CBC News / The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

Health officials say measles infected 197 more people in Ontario over the last week as the highly contagious disease emerged in new parts of the country.

That brings the province’s tally of probable and confirmed cases to 1,440 since an outbreak began in October.

Public Health Ontario’s measles report says there have been 101 hospitalizations, including 75 children. Eight patients have been in intensive care.

Nova Scotia and Northwest Territories each reported measles cases earlier this week, marking their first since this outbreak began.

Alberta reported yesterday that its overall case count had reached nearly 300 since mid-March, including three patients under the age of 18 in intensive care.

Saskatchewan updated its cumulative count to 27 cases today, a day after Manitoba reported it had reached 24 cases.

Measles has mostly infected unvaccinated children, infants and teenagers, with almost 500 cases in Ontario’s southwestern public health unit.

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Topic: Nova ScotiaView all posts for the topic: Nova Scotia

1 case of measles confirmed in Nova Scotia

Published May 6, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Carolyn Ray

Nova Scotia is confirming its first case of measles.

Dr. Robert Strang, the chief medical officer of health, told a news conference Tuesday that the patient is an adult in Halifax who recently travelled to the United States. They went to the emergency department at the QEII hospital in Halifax on Sunday night.

“We were well prepared for this,” Strang said. “Appropriate steps were taken very quickly when this person came in for care to minimize exposure.”

Strang said the patient had one dose of the measles vaccine when they were younger, but did not receive the second. The Health Department said in a news release that “people generally need two [doses] to be fully vaccinated” against measles.

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Topic: Northwest TerritoriesView all posts for the topic: Northwest Territories

Measles exposure advisories sent to some Yellowknife parents

Published May 4, 2025

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Published by: Cabin Radio
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By Ollie Williams

Letters warning of a “confirmed case of measles” were sent to parents of various Yellowknife schools on Sunday evening.

Initially, families at St Patrick High School and Weledeh Catholic School reported receiving an advisory that exposure occurred at St Pat’s – including areas shared with Weledeh – from 8am till 5:40pm on each of April 28, April 30 and May 1.

“All persons present at this venue during the time period are considered to be exposed and must follow public health guidance,” read the letter, issued by the NWT’s chief public health officer, Dr Kami Kandola.

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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Ottawa has its 1st confirmed measles cases of the decade

Published May 1, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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Ottawa has its first confirmed measles cases since 2019, part of the still-growing outbreak in many parts of the province.

Ontario has now reported 1,243 measles cases across 17 public health units, including 223 new cases in the week since its last update.

That includes new cases in Algoma Public Health in the Sault Ste. Marie area and Renfrew County’s health unit northwest of Ottawa.

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