A contagion that medicine had nearly tamed has returned to Ontario, and in two short weeks the number of people it has touched has nearly doubled. The story is one of a preventable illness moving through communities where protection has thinned, mostly among children who were never vaccinated. Across provinces and over the border, the same quiet vulnerability is being exposed. What the coming weeks will reveal is whether the old shield of immunization can be rebuilt before more young lives are drawn into its reach.
Ontario Measles Cases Nearly Double as Interprovincial Outbreak Spreads Among the Unvaccinated
18 children have been hospitalized in Ontario, including one who required intensive care.
Nearly double the cases, mostly in unvaccinated children
A contagion that medicine had nearly tamed has returned to Ontario, and in two short weeks the number of people it has touched has nearly doubled. The story is one of a preventable illness moving through communities where protection has thinned, mostly among children who were never vaccinated. Across provinces and over the border, the same quiet vulnerability is being exposed. What the coming weeks will reveal is whether the old shield of immunization can be rebuilt before more young lives are drawn into its reach.
On Thursday, February 27, 2025, Ontario announced 78 new measles cases from the previous two weeks, a jump that nearly doubled the tally from an outbreak that had been quietly building since the autumn. The figures for this year already tell a sobering story: 119 lab-confirmed cases and 23 probable ones, surpassing the 101 infections recorded across the province from 2013 to 2023 combined.
Almost all of the new infections trace back to an interprovincial outbreak that began in October. It has now sickened 177 people in Ontario and reached New Brunswick and Manitoba as well. Quebec, meanwhile, is contending with a separate outbreak of 27 cases that started in December.
The heaviest cost has fallen on children. Eighteen have been hospitalized, and one required intensive care. Most are unvaccinated, and one case announced Thursday was a child who caught the virus outside Canada.
The danger reaches beyond the border. On Wednesday, the United States recorded its first measles death in a decade, an unvaccinated child in Texas. Measles, which spreads through the air, begins with fever, cough and red eyes, then brings a blotchy rash that spreads across the body. It can lead to pneumonia, brain inflammation and death.
The Public Health Agency of Canada points to a global resurgence, falling vaccination rates and increased international travel as the forces behind the spread, and it insists vaccination remains the strongest protection. With cases still rising in several provinces, the coming weeks will show whether more hospitalizations and cross-border transmission follow.
On Thursday, February 27, 2025, Ontario reported 78 new measles cases from the previous two weeks. That brought the province's tally from an outbreak that began in the autumn to nearly double what it had been.
The numbers for this year alone are stark. Ontario has 119 cases confirmed by a laboratory and another 23 classed as probable. The 101 infections recorded across the whole province between 2013 and 2023 are now already surpassed.
Nearly all of the new cases trace back to an interprovincial outbreak that started in October. That outbreak has sickened 177 people in Ontario, and the virus has also spread in New Brunswick and Manitoba. Quebec is dealing with its own outbreak of 27 cases, which began in December.
The cost has fallen mostly on children. Eighteen kids have been hospitalized because of the outbreak, and one of them needed intensive care. The disease has primarily infected children and teenagers who are unvaccinated, and it is described as highly contagious but preventable.
One of the cases announced Thursday was an unvaccinated child who caught measles outside Canada and had to be hospitalized.
The problem extends beyond the border. The United States recorded its first measles death in a decade on Wednesday, when an unvaccinated child died in Texas.
Measles spreads through the air. It usually begins with a fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. A red, blotchy rash follows, starting on the face and moving to the body and limbs. The virus can lead to pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, and death.
The Public Health Agency of Canada attributes the current spread to a global rise in measles, lower vaccination rates and more international travel. The agency says vaccination is the best protection. With cases still climbing in several provinces and the virus circulating in the U.S., further hospitalizations and cross-border spread are what to watch.
Citazioni salienti
Vaccination is the best path of protection; the spread is due to a global rise in measles, reduced vaccination rates and more international travel.— Public Health Agency of Canada
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