Health teams scramble to contain spread of measles in central and southern Alberta
CBC
Calling the measles outbreaks "concerning," the medical officer of health for central Alberta says a flurry of work is going on behind the scenes to rein in cases and prevent deaths.
As of midday Wednesday, Alberta had reported a total of 170 cases since the outbreaks began in March.
The highest concentration of cases are in the central zone, south zone and north zone — parts of the province with the lowest vaccination rates.
The central zone now has 65 cases. The south zone has reported 74 cases, and the north zone has 21. Calgary and Edmonton zones have each reported five cases.
"The main thing we're trying to prevent is deaths," said Dr. Ifeoma Achebe, the lead medical officer of health with Alberta Health Services in the central zone.
As of Monday, two people had been hospitalized, and later released, since the outbreaks in the central zone began, she said.
Provincial data, which was last updated April 19, shows a total of nine people hospitalized across Alberta since the cases began in March.
There have been no deaths as a result of Alberta's measles outbreaks this year.
"I'm quite concerned. That's why we're taking all the measures that we're taking to address the situation," said Achebe.
The central zone emergency operations centre is holding regular meetings to discuss the measles outbreak.
A key focus for public health teams is contact tracing and ensuring contacts, who are not immunized, isolate to prevent further spread.
"I can tell you the volume is quite high," said Achebe, noting people can start spreading the virus before they even develop symptoms.
Another complicating factor is that measles is highly contagious. It can hang in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a location.
"Whenever there's a case there's usually a high number of contacts that have been previously exposed before the person even knows he or she was a case. That's a lot of work. Sometimes hundreds of individuals needing to be contacted and isolated."
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