A measles outbreak that began last autumn has now pushed Ontario past a full decade of its own recorded infections in barely two months, with 84 new cases added in a fortnight alone. The spread runs through unvaccinated children and teenagers and reaches across provincial lines into New Brunswick and Manitoba, while Quebec fights a separate cluster. It is a reminder that a disease Canada declared eradicated in 1998 returns wherever protection thins, and that the measure of its return is measured in the young people who are hospitalized.
Ontario measles cases nearly double in two weeks, surpassing the province's total from the past decade
18 children in Ontario have been hospitalized, including one who needed intensive care, and aU.S. child died in Texas after being unvaccinated.
A measles outbreak that began last autumn has now pushed Ontario past a full decade of its own recorded infections in barely two months, with 84 new cases added in a fortnight alone. The spread runs through unvaccinated children and teenagers and reaches across provincial lines into New Brunswick and Manitoba, while Quebec fights a separate cluster. It is a reminder that a disease Canada declared eradicated in 1998 returns wherever protection thins, and that the measure of its return is measured in the young people who are hospitalized.
Ontario added 84 measles cases in the past two weeks, nearly doubling its total since an outbreak began last autumn. The figures, reported Thursday, set this year apart from anything the province has seen in a decade. So far in 2025, Ontario has 119 lab-confirmed cases and 23 probable ones, a count that has already passed the 101 infections recorded across the whole period from 2013 to 2023.
Almost all of the new cases trace to an interprovincial outbreak that started in October and has sickened 177 people in Ontario. The virus has also taken hold in New Brunswick and Manitoba, and Quebec is contending with a separate 27-case outbreak that began in December.
The heaviest burden falls on children. Most of those infected are unvaccinated young people, and 18 Ontario children have been hospitalized, one needing intensive care. Among Thursday's reported cases was an unvaccinated child who caught measles outside Canada and was admitted to hospital.
The disease is highly contagious and airborne, beginning with fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes before a blotchy rash spreads from the face across the body. It can bring pneumonia, brain inflammation and death, yet it remains preventable. Across the border, an unvaccinated child died in Texas, the first U.S. measles death in a decade.
The Public Health Agency of Canada links the spread to a global rise in measles, falling vaccination rates and more international travel, and maintains that vaccination offers the best protection. The next signs to watch are whether more children are hospitalized and whether vaccination rises in the communities where the virus is now moving.
Ontario added 84 new measles cases over the past two weeks, a jump that nearly doubled the province's total since an outbreak began last autumn. The numbers were reported Thursday, and they put the province's recent experience in a different category from anything in the past decade.
So far this year, Ontario has 119 cases confirmed in a lab and another 23 classed as probable. Between 2013 and 2023, the province recorded 101 measles infections in total. The current count has already passed that ten-year figure.
Almost all of the new cases trace back to an interprovincial outbreak that began 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, 27 cases that began in December.
The human cost is falling mostly on the young. The disease has primarily infected children and teenagers who are unvaccinated. Eighteen children in Ontario have been hospitalized because of the outbreak, and one of them needed intensive care. Among the cases reported Thursday was an unvaccinated child who picked up measles outside Canada and was hospitalized.
Measles is airborne and highly contagious, though preventable. It usually starts with a fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. A red, blotchy rash follows, beginning on the face and spreading to the body and limbs. The virus can lead to pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, and death.
The situation extends beyond Canada's borders. On Wednesday, the United States recorded its first measles death in a decade, when an unvaccinated child died in Texas. Canada declared measles eradicated in 1998, but as vaccination rates have dropped, new cases have been rising. A CBC video report noted that 95 people had been infected in just the first two months of the year, compared with 147 for all of 2025.
The Public Health Agency of Canada attributes the current spread to a global rise in measles, reduced vaccination rates and increased international travel. The agency says vaccination is the best protection. What to watch next is whether more children are hospitalized, and whether vaccination uptake rises in the communities where the virus is moving.
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