Ontario measles outbreak at more than 1,600 cases

A child’s cheek shows the characteristic rash associated with measles. Photo by U.S. Centers for Disease ControlArticle content

Ontario’s ongoing measles outbreak has now topped 1,600 cases as it continues to grow and spread across the province.

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In the past week alone, 182 new cases were reported by public health agencies in the province, bringing the total number of cases to 1,622 and making the outbreak the largest in at least three decades.

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Most of the new cases were in parts of southwestern Ontario that have been at the epicentre of the outbreak that began last fall at a Mennonite community gathering in New Brunswick.

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There were also two cases in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, south and east of Ottawa, the first in that area. Renfrew County and the South East Health Unit, both of which border Ottawa, have previously reported cases associated with the large outbreak.

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Earlier this month, Ottawa Public Health reported two cases of measles, the city’s first since 2019, in an adult and child from the same family who had recently travelled internationally. There have been no reports of spread associated with those cases and they are not related to the larger outbreak, which is community spread.

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The majority of infections have been in infants, children and adolescents who were unvaccinated. To date, 119 people have been hospitalized as a result of measles infections in Ontario and nine have required intensive care. There have been no deaths.

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The outbreak has become a hot-button political issue with opposition politicians calling for the government to do more to promote vaccination uptake and counter lagging vaccination rates.

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Public health officials and local infection control experts have warned that measles cases related to the outbreak, and infections related to travel, will likely continue.

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