Tag: outbreaks

Ontario sees another sharp rise in measles cases while outbreaks grow in Quebec, Alberta

Published March 20, 2025

Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
Published on: March 20, 2025
By Hannah Alberga

There’s been another sharp increase in Ontario measles cases as the province begins to release weekly reports on the infectious disease.

Public Health Ontario is reporting 470 measles cases since an outbreak began in October. That’s an increase of 120 cases since March 14.

The spread resulted in 34 hospitalizations, including two people who needed intensive care. Most of those hospitalized were unvaccinated kids, including one of the intensive care patients.

The outbreak expansion adds to the growing concern of rising measles cases in different parts of the country, including in Quebec where there are 40 cases and Alberta where there are 13, according to the latest data.

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BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, Texas

Kennedy’s Alarming Prescription for Bird Flu on Poultry Farms

Published March 18, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: March 18, 2025
By Apoorva Mandavilli

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, has an unorthodox idea for tackling the bird flu bedeviling U.S. poultry farms. Let the virus rip.

Instead of culling birds when the infection is discovered, farmers “should consider maybe the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it,” Mr. Kennedy said recently on Fox News.

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Colourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (red), with a yellow background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

British Columbia

BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, Texas

Published March 14, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: March 14, 2025
By Michelle Gamage

In Gaines County, Texas, where a measles outbreak has killed one six-year-old and one adult, the measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners is just 82 per cent, according to reporting by The Atlantic.

That’s a higher measles vaccination rate than children have here in B.C.

Just under 82 per cent of two-year-olds have gotten one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, and around 72 per cent of seven-year-olds have gotten both doses, according to the B.C. Childhood Immunization Coverage Dashboard’s 2023 data, which is the most recent data year available.

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The measles epidemic continues in Quebec with 30 confirmed cases now

Published March 3, 2025

Published by: Le Devoir / The Canadian Press
Published on: March 3, 2025
By Katrine Desautels

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.

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Four more measles cases confirmed in Norfolk County and Brant County

Measles cases in Ontario have nearly doubled over the last 2 weeks

Published February 27, 2025

Published by: Global News / The Canadian Press
Published on: February 27, 2025
By Hannah Alberga

This 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.

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Texas

A Texas child who was not vaccinated has died of measles, a first for the US in a decade

Published February 26, 2025

Published by: The Associated Press
Published on: February 26, 2025
By Devi Shastri, Amanda Seitz

LUBBOCK, 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.

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Colourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (gold), with a purple background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Four more measles cases confirmed in Norfolk County and Brant County

Published February 20, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: February 20, 2025
By Shelby Knox

The 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.

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British Columbia

Additional measles case detected in B.C.‘s Lower Mainland: officials

Published February 19, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: February 19, 2025
By Lisa Steacy

A 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.

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Urgent CDC Data and Analyses on Influenza and Bird Flu Go Missing as Outbreaks Escalate

Canada buys 500,000 doses of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine for those most at risk

Published February 19, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: February 19, 2025
By Amina Zafar

The 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.

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Hamilton Region

Confirmed case of measles in Hamilton area child: public health

Published February 14, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: February 14, 2025
By Laura Sebben

The 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.

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Colourized transmission electron micrograph of three avian influenza virus particles (pink), with teal blue background. Photo: CDC and NIAID.

Urgent CDC Data and Analyses on Influenza and Bird Flu Go Missing as Outbreaks Escalate

Published February 14, 2025

Published by: KFF Health News
Published on: February 14, 2025
By Amy Maxmen

Sonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers,…

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11 new measles cases confirmed: Grand Erie Public Health

Published February 13, 2025

Published by: Brantford Expositor
Published on: February 13, 2025
By Susan Gamble

Another 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.

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Waterloo Region

People need to ‘remain vigilant’ as measles cases rise, Waterloo region’s medical officer says

Published January 31, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: January 31, 2025
By Kate Bueckert

While 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.

— Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Medical Officer of Health for Waterloo Region

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Measles outbreak declared in southwestern Ontario

Published January 29, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: January 29, 2025
By Jennifer K. Baker

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.

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‘A Dangerous Virus’: Bird Flu Enters a New Phase

Published January 27, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: January 27, 2025
By Apoorva Mandavilli

When 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.

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10 confirmed measles cases in southern Ontario

Published January 23, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: January 23, 2025
By Jennifer K. Baker, Krista Sharpe

Confirmed 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.

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