Copyright Anchorage Daily News
TORONTO - In 1998, after once being a hot spot for measles in the Americas, Canada eliminated the highly contagious virus. By 2000, measles was “so rare” in the country that many practicing doctors had “never even seen it,” the Calgary Herald reported at the time. But nearly three decades after earning the designation, Canada has lost its measles-free status, the Pan American Health Organization announced Monday - making it the first nation in the Americas to lose it since 2019 amid a broader resurgence of the vaccine-preventable respiratory virus around the world. The change in status follows a review of national epidemiological data by an independent expert group convened by the PAHO, which submitted recommendations to the organization’s director. It reflects how limited vaccine uptake, misinformation and mistrust of public health measures are gaining steam in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say. “This loss represents a setback, of course, but it is also reversible,” PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa said at a news conference on Monday. “Until measles is eliminated worldwide, our region will continue to face the risk of reintroduction and spread of the virus … and the reality is that in all other regions in the world, at this moment we have several outbreaks of measles.” The World Health Organization considers a country to have eliminated measles if there is no continuous spread of linked cases for 12 months. Canada’s latest outbreak began in October 2024 with a travel-related case in New Brunswick. It has since spread to one territory and nearly all provinces, though case numbers in the hardest-hit provinces have declined. Canadian officials had warned earlier this year that Canada’s measles elimination status was in jeopardy. The United States, which achieved the measles-free designation in 2020, recorded its highest number of cases in more than three decades this year. As of early November, there were more than 1,680 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts warn that the United States, too, could be on the brink of losing its measles-free status. Canada has logged more than 5,100 cases of measles this year, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Two babies who were born preterm and infected in utero have died. The country of 41 million people has reported more than three times as many cases as the United States. Alberta, a province of 5 million people, has reported more cases than the entire United States. Measles spreads remarkably easily when a person sneezes, coughs or breathes, with droplets remaining airborne and infectious for up to two hours. It can be fatal, particularly for infants who are not yet old enough to be vaccinated, and cause severe complications such as brain swelling and pneumonia. It is also preventable. Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are nearly 100 percent effective in preventing the disease. In 1996, Canada launched a catch-up immunization program to vaccinate children who were unvaccinated or who’d had one of two doses of the vaccine. Not long after, Canada achieved measles elimination status. In the decades since, measles cases were sporadic and often linked to international travel. Outbreaks were quickly contained. From 1998 to 2024, Canada reported an average of 91 measles cases per year. But as anti-vaccine proponents have spread debunked claims about the safety of the vaccine or downplayed the severity of measles, vaccine coverage has slipped. Experts say 95 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity that prevents the virus from spreading widely. About 79 percent of Canada’s population had received two doses of the measles vaccine in 2024, according to PAHO data, down from 87 percent in 2019. In some communities, coverage is even lower. In the hard-hit southern part of Alberta, for instance, about 65 percent of children have received two doses of the vaccine by age 7. Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that 93 percent of measles cases in the country have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. About 70 percent of the cases have been in children underage 18. Rules about whether children must be vaccinated against measles and other diseases to attend school vary by province and territory. In Alberta, such vaccinations are not mandatory. Skepticism about public health measures grew in the prairie province during the pandemic, and the subject of vaccination has become a lightning rod. Premier Danielle Smith, a conservative, said in 2022 that unvaccinated people were “the most discriminated-against group that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime.” Although officials have encouraged parents to vaccinate their children against measles, critics have said the government was slow to respond to the outbreak and issue guidance. Many large measles outbreaks in Canada have occurred in insular Mennonite communities in rural Alberta and Ontario, where some are skeptical of vaccines. Outbreaks have also been reported in Mennonite communities in Mexico and West Texas. In June, months after the town of Taber, Alberta, recorded its first measles case, local officials began putting up posters in public spaces, including public washrooms, with information about measles translated into Low German, a form of German spoken by the Mennonites’ European Anabaptist ancestors. Staff were instructed to check on the posters about once a week for vandalism, “as this is a contentious issue within the community,” according to emails obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request. Staff were told to replace posters that had been defaced. Measles outbreaks have taken hold across North America this year. Mexico has reported more than 4,800 cases of the disease and 23 deaths. Mexican health officials say the country’s outbreak started with a child who visited Texas during the early days of its outbreak. Although the Texas measles outbreak has come under control, new ones have taken off in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah. If the outbreaks turn out to be connected and the same virus strain continues to spread into January , the United States may also lose its measles elimination status, PAHO officials said Monday. In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada said that it was working with the PAHO and its partners in the 10 provinces and three territories to “implement coordinated actions,” including by improving vaccination rates and surveillance. - - -
