Ontario is reporting 84 new measles cases over the last two weeks, nearly doubling the province’s total count since an outbreak started in the autumn.
The new cases bring Ontario’s total this year to 119 that were confirmed in a lab and 23 that are deemed “probable,” far surpassing the 101 total infections recorded in the province between 2013 and 2023.
Almost all of the new cases are connected to an interprovincial outbreak that began in October, which has sickened 177 people in Ontario and also saw the virus spread in New Brunswick and Manitoba.
Eighteen kids have been hospitalized as a result of the outbreak, including one who required intensive care.
One of the cases reported Thursday was in an unvaccinated child who acquired measles outside of Canada and required hospitalization.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease and it primarily spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Health officials have urged Canadians to get vaccinated as the best path of protection, noting that most people infected by the recent outbreak were unimmunized.
Measles can lead to severe health issues, especially in young children and immunocompromised individuals.
