There have been 14 confirmed cases of measles in the past 24 hours, which means the number of cases in Alberta has climbed to 409.
Most of the cases (269) are located in the southern health district of Alberta, which includes the Lethbridge, Medical Hats and the Taber community.
More than three-quarters of people diagnosed with the virus are children and three-thirds are in intensive care in the hospital.
“I think it's actually crazy – shocking.
“In the context, when many current doctors were in training, in the early 2000s, when things that were circulating in Canada were soon after measles were eliminated, we had fewer than 10 cases per year for years – now we are basically close to 10 or more cases a day.”
Dr Lenore Saxinger, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alberta, said that not many years ago, Canada would have 10 confirmed cases of measles every year, and now the province is seeing more than 10 new cases a day.
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Of all provinces, Alberta is second only to Ontario, with 1,622 confirmed cases of measles.
Now, the measles outbreak in Canada is also blamed on the U.S. public health alert in the Seattle area of Washington.
Residents there were told a recent visitor in Canada that they had measles cases and were infectious when they visited more than a dozen different places.
Although health officials will not say the visitor is from Canada’s location, they have published a list of the places the person visited and recommend anyone who checks their vaccination status in the area at the same time.
Washington state health officials warned residents about a recent visitor in Canada and confirmed cases of measles.
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The recent outbreak of measles in Canada and the United States also puts both countries at risk of losing their free status in measles.
Despite sporadic outbreaks, Canada has been considered measles-free since 2000 since 1998.
In Texas, there are 700 confirmed cases of measles this year, Dr. Peter Hotelz, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said the actual number of cases may be much higher than currently reported.
Dr. Peter Hotelz, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, is worried that we will soon see a resurgence of other serious childhood diseases that are not vaccinated.
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Since most cases occur in unvaccinated populations, in rural areas of both countries, Hotez is worried that we will soon see other dangerous childhood diseases reappear.
“From southern Alberta to West Texas, I've drawn a map of the Great Plains, which seems to be a popular area where we see breakthrough childhood and infectious diseases,” said Hotelz.
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“And it might be more than measles. What about cough or diphtheria? The answer is usually measles is the first measles you see because measles is so highly spread.
“To put the measles outbreak under control, in areas where there are a lot of non-immune people, this has to happen very quickly – I think that will require really consistent public health efforts,” Saxinger said.
The office of Alberta Health Minister Adriana Lagrange insists that the Alberta government is “taking the measles outbreak seriously” in the province, which recently announced a call “Don’t get measles, get immunization, print, print, print, digital media and social media advertising.”
Lagrangès office insists that the campaign is making an impact, noting that between March 16 and April 27, the province had a total of 37,242 measles vaccines, nearly 68% higher than the same period last year.
However, Saxinger's focus is “people who are unlikely to be vaccinated through social media and traditional media campaigns – so it is unclear that this will immediately affect the current spread in some areas.”
“For me, it's actually a particularly terrible outbreak,” Saxony said. “That's totally preventable in the entire ocean of all kinds of disasters that have happened around the world.”
More information about Alberta measles, including available online at Alberta (Alberta.ca/Measles), includes the latest number of confirmed cases, symptoms and information about vaccination.
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