New measles cases have been reported in Alberta, following the province’s confirmation of several cases over the weekend. This comes amid an outbreak affecting various provinces across Canada.
Alberta reported two new cases in the last 24 hours as of noon on March 18, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton, bringing the total cases this year to 13, according to the province’s daily tracking.
Alberta Health Services issued a public alert at the end of last week, saying several cases had been confirmed in the northern area of Fort Vermilion and notifying of potential exposures. Additional cases have been reported since then, including in the Edmonton and the Calgary areas, and in the southern town of Taber, Alta.
Alberta’s measles cases are part of a rise in cases across Canada, with 227 reported as of March 6, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The agency noted that the number of cases in the first two months of 2025 is higher than the total cases last year, with outbreaks reported in Ontario, Québec, British Columbia, and Manitoba.
Measles, also called rubella or red measles, is a virus that is spread through the air and by contact with respiratory secretions from the mouth or nose. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a red blotchy rash that starts on the face a few days after the onset of fever and spreads to the rest of the body.
The rash typically lasts between four to seven days. Common complications of measles include ear and lung infections, affecting about 1 in 10 people. In rare cases, measles can cause brain swelling or death, with about 0.3 percent of patients experiencing these severe outcomes, according to Alberta Health.
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People who recover from measles have lifelong immunity to the disease, according to Health Canada. Canada achieved elimination of the virus in 1998, with most cases coming from outside the country.
Measles cases globally increased in 2024 compared to the previous year.
As of March 12, Ontario recorded 252 confirmed and 66 probable cases this year. All but five were due to an interprovincial outbreak, according to Public Health Ontario. The agency says an outbreak in New Brunswick last October, linked to a travel-related case, led to measles cases in Ontario, and later in Manitoba. New Brunswick in January declared its outbreak over.
Manitoba has recorded six cases so far this year, according to Manitoba Health. Meanwhile, Quebec has reported 39 confirmed cases since last December as of March 18, the majority of them in the region of Laurentides. British Columbia, for its part, has recorded at least four cases this year.
