Canada is no longer measles-free due to ongoing outbreaksInternational health experts said Monday as childhood vaccination rates fall and a highly contagious virus spreads across the Americas.
The country's loss of measles elimination status comes more than a year after the highly contagious virus began spreading.
There have been 5,138 measles cases and two deaths in Canada this year. Both were infants who were exposed to the measles virus in the womb and were born prematurely.
Eliminating measles is symbolic, but it represents an uphill battle against an infectious disease. It is earned when a country proves it has stopped the ongoing spread of the virus among local communities, although isolated cases may still arise during travel.
Measles usually begins with a high fever, followed by a characteristic rash that begins on the face and neck. Most people recover, but it is one of the leading causes of death among young children, according to World. Health Organization. Serious complications, including blindness and brain swelling, are more common in young children and adults over 30 years of age.
It can be prevented with a vaccine that is given regularly and safely to children around the world.
“It's a very discouraging event. It's a very troubling event. And frankly, it's an embarrassing event,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an infectious disease expert at Brown University. “No country with the resources of Canada—or even other North American countries—should lose its measles elimination status.”
Canada eliminated measles in 1998, followed by the United States two years later. Following extremely successful vaccination campaigns, America became the first measles-free region in the world in 2016. Health officials estimate that the measles vaccine prevented 6.2 million deaths in America between 2000 and 2023.
But vaccination rates have since fallen below the 95% coverage needed to end outbreaks. Large outbreaks in Venezuela and Brazil in 2018 and 2019 cost the region its eliminated status. It was returned in 2024, but again ended in a loss to Canada.
Experts at the Pan American Health Organization, an independent health agency, made the decision after analyzing data from outbreaks in Canada that showed the virus had been spreading continuously for a year.
Stopping the spread of measles in local communities has never been easy, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization, said at a briefing Monday.
“As a region, we have eliminated measles twice,” Barbosa said. “We can do this a third time.”
In a statement, Canadian health officials said they are working with the government and community partners to improve vaccination coverage, share data and provide evidence-based recommendations.
