Manitoba still faces challenge in curbing measles a year into outbreak: community health prof

It's been one year since the first measles cases in the latest outbreak were reported in Manitoba — and there's no sign the spread of the highly contagious disease is slowing.

"It's been very busy," said Dr. Davinder Singh, a medical officer of health with Southern Health, the regional health area that has seen the majority of the province's cases.

Since February of last year, there have been 371 confirmed and 32 probable measles cases reported in Manitoba, as of Jan. 24, the latest numbers available.

Manitoba had no reported measles cases in 2024, according to federal data.

The province announced the first five cases in the current outbreak on Feb. 4, 2025. Case numbers swelled in the following months, peaking in May with 72 infections, then dropped during the fall to 23 cases in October. 

But measles cases are growing again, with 51 confirmed infections so far in the new year, according to the latest data from the province.

"It's obviously signalling that there's still a challenge in Manitoba in addressing those growing number of cases," said Michelle Driedger, a University of Manitoba professor who specializes in community health.

About eight in every 10 measles cases in Manitoba have been reported in Southern Health, according to Singh.

"The outbreak could be over in a month or six weeks if everyone who was not immunized and susceptible chose to get immunized," he said. "That's really what we need."

Southern Health has a low measles vaccination rate compared to other parts of the province, said Singh. Most patients who contract the virus are from areas with the lowest rates of immunizations, he said. 

The health region has been trying to curb the spread of measles by encouraging vaccination during the last year — but that hasn't been easy, he said.

Most people who aren't immunized have expressed either concerns about vaccine safety or think the virus is not severe enough to require immunization. 

The vast majority of measles cases in Manitoba — 334 cases, or 85.6 per cent — have been in people who are not immunized against the illness, while 25 cases, or just over six per cent, have been in people whose vaccination status is unknown, according to provincial data.

A total of 12 cases, or three per cent, were in people who had one vaccination dose against measles. Twenty-one cases, or 5.2 per cent, involved people with two or more doses.