Canada could lose its status as a measles-free country amid outbreak

With measles spreading to more than 5,000 Canadians in the past year, Canada is poised to lose its measles-free status from the Pan-American Health Organization.

Canada is poised to lose its international status as a measles-free country now that an outbreak that began in New Brunswick and spread to other provinces has hit the one-year mark.

The country eliminated measles in 1998 and maintained that status for more than 25 years, meaning there was no ongoing community transmission and new cases were travel-related.

But since Oct. 27, 2024, the virus has spread to more than 5,000 people in Canada, including two infants in Ontario and Alberta who were infected with measles in the womb and died after they were born.

Public health and infectious disease experts attribute the return of measles to declining vaccination rates, stemming from misinformation-fuelled vaccine hesitancy and distrust of science, as well as the disruption of routine immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pan-American Health Organization, or PAHO, which is the World Health Organization’s regional office for countries in North and South America, will review Canada’s measles elimination status at a meeting in November.

Other countries around the world, including the United States, are also seeing a resurgence in measles cases. PAHO said the U.S. outbreak didn’t start until January of this year, so it still has some time before it’s at risk of losing the elimination status it achieved in 2000.

Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, vice-president of infectious diseases and vaccination programs at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said the unfortunate milestone signals that “we haven’t managed to get ahead of the virus,” but also marks the importance of doing the work to regain elimination status.

“You have to demonstrate that the country has no ongoing transmission for a period of at least 12 months and you also have to show that all your systems are working well enough to be able to sustain that afterwards,” said Crowcroft in an interview last summer when it appeared likely the Oct. 27 deadline couldn’t be met.