Move Over Texas, Canada Is Now the New North American Measles Hot Spot

This spring, as Texas was dealing with a significant measles outbreak, Canada was also dealing with the disease.

In fact, Canada is currently experiencing one of the largest measles outbreaks in North America, with confirmed cases nearly three times higher than those reported in the United States, despite Canada’s much smaller population. The epicenter is the Ontario area, and so far, nearly 4000 cases have been reported. Furthermore, the outbreak is continuing.

Ontario had recorded 2,276 measles cases as of last week. While its case count is still the country’s highest, attention has lately turned to Alberta.

Alberta reported 47 new cases over the weekend, bringing its total cases since March to 1,454 as of Monday.

The province’s former chief medical officer of health Dr. Mark Joffe said July 9 that Alberta had twice the rate of confirmed cases than the more populous Ontario.