Ontario has added 78 measles cases in two weeks, a surge that nearly doubles a count that began with an outbreak last autumn and now stands above the province's entire tally for the decade from 2013 to 2023. The spread runs across provincial lines, reaching New Brunswick and Manitoba, while Quebec fights a separate outbreak of its own. Behind the numbers is a familiar and preventable sickness, one that has fallen hardest on unvaccinated children and teenagers, and officials point to waning immunization and easy travel as the currents carrying it.
Ontario Measles Cases Nearly Double as Outbreak Spreads Across Provinces
18 children have been hospitalized, one requiring intensive care, and the virus has primarily infected unvaccinated children and teenagers.
Already more than the 101 infections recorded across Ontario from 2013 to 2023
Mark
Why does a count of 142 cases feel so different from the 101 in the older figure?
Mimi
Because the 101 covers eleven years, 2013 to 2023, and this year's cases came in a matter of weeks. The pace is the story.
Mark
The report gives 119 confirmed and 23 probable. What's the difference?
Luke
Confirmed means lab-verified. Probable is the province's own classification, and the report doesn't say how it's decided. Also, 177 is the outbreak total since October, which is a different tally from this year's 142, so they shouldn't be added or compared carelessly.
Mimi
Right, they cover different time spans.
Mark
Who is getting sick?
Mimi
Mostly unvaccinated children and teenagers. Eighteen kids have been hospitalized, one in intensive care.
Luke
Worth noting that's 18 of the outbreak's cases, and we're not told how many are in which province.
Mark
And the child who caught it abroad?
Mimi
It shows travel is part of this. Officials also cite falling vaccination rates and a global rise in measles.
Luke
Those are the Public Health Agency of Canada's explanations. The report doesn't give vaccination rate figures, so we can't measure how much each factor contributes.
Mark
What's still unknown?
Luke
Where the outbreak peaks, and whether the hospitalization count keeps climbing. The report doesn't say.
O Pulso
- Ontario's measles count nearly doubled in just two weeks, with 119 lab-confirmed and 23 probable cases already on the books for 2025.
- An interprovincial outbreak that began in October has crossed into New Brunswick and Manitoba, while Quebec's separate 27-case outbreak adds pressure from another front.
- Eighteen children have been hospitalized, one of them in intensive care, and the sick are overwhelmingly unvaccinated young people.
- A child who caught the virus abroad and needed hospital care shows infections are arriving from outside Canada as well as moving between provinces.
- Public health officials are racing to lift vaccination uptake, and the outbreak has already outrun the province's full 2013 to 2023 total.
Ontario has added 78 measles cases in two weeks, a surge that nearly doubles a count that began with an outbreak last autumn and now stands above the province's entire tally for the decade from 2013 to 2023. The spread runs across provincial lines, reaching New Brunswick and Manitoba, while Quebec fights a separate outbreak of its own. Behind the numbers is a familiar and preventable sickness, one that has fallen hardest on unvaccinated children and teenagers, and officials point to waning immunization and easy travel as the currents carrying it.
On Thursday, Ontario reported 78 new measles cases over the previous two weeks, a jump that nearly doubled the province's count since an outbreak began in the autumn. The new total stands at 119 lab-confirmed cases and 23 probable ones, already more than the 101 infections the province recorded across the entire decade from 2013 to 2023.
Most of the recent cases trace back to an interprovincial outbreak that started in October and has sickened 177 people in Ontario alone. It has also reached New Brunswick and Manitoba, and Quebec has a separate outbreak of 27 cases that began in December.
The heaviest cost falls on the young. Eighteen children have been hospitalized, one needing intensive care, and most of those infected are unvaccinated children and teenagers. One case announced Thursday was an unvaccinated child who caught measles abroad and had to be hospitalized, a sign that the virus is arriving from outside the country as well as spreading within it.
The pattern echoes beyond Canada. The United States recorded its first measles death in a decade this week, when an unvaccinated child died in Texas. The Public Health Agency of Canada blames the spread on a global rise in measles, falling vaccination rates and greater international travel, and it insists vaccination remains the best protection. The next signs to watch are hospitalizations and vaccination uptake.
On Thursday, Ontario reported 78 new measles cases over the previous two weeks, a jump that nearly doubled the province's count since an outbreak began in the autumn.
The new numbers bring Ontario's total for this year to 119 cases confirmed in a laboratory, plus another 23 classed as probable. That is already more than the 101 infections recorded across the entire province between 2013 and 2023.
Almost all of the recent cases are tied to an interprovincial outbreak that started in October. In Ontario alone, that outbreak has sickened 177 people. The virus has also spread to New Brunswick and Manitoba. Separately, Quebec has reported its own outbreak of 27 cases, which began in December.
The human cost is concentrated among the young. Eighteen children have been hospitalized because of the outbreak, and one of them needed intensive care. The disease has mostly infected children and teenagers who are unvaccinated, a point that matters because measles is highly contagious yet preventable.
One of the cases announced Thursday was an unvaccinated child who caught measles outside Canada and had to be hospitalized. The detail shows that cases are arriving from abroad as well as spreading between provinces.
The situation is not confined to Canada. On Wednesday the United States recorded its first measles death in a decade, after an unvaccinated child died in Texas. A photo accompanying the Canadian Press report shows a sign outside a South Plains Public Health District clinic in Brownfield, Texas, taken Sunday, Feb. 23.
Measles is airborne. It usually starts with a fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes, followed by a red blotchy rash that begins on the face and moves to the body and limbs. The virus can cause pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, and death.
The Public Health Agency of Canada attributes the current spread to three things: a global rise in measles, reduced vaccination rates, and increased international travel. The agency says vaccination is the best protection.
The figures to watch next are hospitalizations and vaccination uptake. The outbreak has already passed a decade's worth of Ontario's earlier cases, and it is still producing new ones.
Citações Notáveis
The current spread is due to a global rise in measles, reduced vaccination rates and increased international travel; vaccination is the best protection.— Public Health Agency of Canada (paraphrased)
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