More cases of measles confirmed in Waterloo

Public health says there are now three confirmed cases of measles in the Region of Waterloo. CTV’s Colton Wiens has the update.

Region of Waterloo Public Health has reported two more confirmed cases of measles.

In a media release Tuesday, the health unit said anyone who visited one of two pharmacies in Waterloo, Ont., on March 21 may be at risk of exposure.

The pharmacies included Pharmasave Campus at 170 University Ave. W between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., as well as Shoppers Drug Mart at 50 Weber St. N, between 12:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

These are the second and third reported cases in Waterloo Region in less than a week. The region’s first measles case since 2019 was reported Friday.

“It’s more infectious than COVID-19,” said Zahid Butt, an epidemiologist at University of Waterloo.

The Region of Waterloo’s associate medical officer of health Dr. Rabia Bana previously told CTV News the rise in cases was expected, given the outbreak in neighbouring health units in southwestern Ontario.

The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore traced the outbreak to a large Mennonite gathering in New Brunswick last fall.

The outbreak has resulted in 470 measles cases between Oct. 18 and March 19, according to Public Health Ontario. Of those, 34 patients needed to be hospitalized, including 29 unimmunized children.

Butt pointed to other complications that can come from having measles, such as pneumonia and even brain inflammation.

“You could also go blind or deaf,” he said. “In some cases, it may lead to death.”

What to watch out for

Symptoms of measles can include fever, cough, runny nose, white spots in the mouth or red water eyes. Symptoms may not show up until 21 days after exposure.

“After about three to seven days, people usually develop a rash,” Bana told CTV News in an interview Tuesday. “It’s usually a red blotchy rash, starts typically on the face and then spreads down the body. Some people also have white spots that they might see in their mouths.”

Bana said measles virus particles can linger in the air for up two hours after an infected person has left the area.

“That’s what we use to determine what length of time the exposure may have been present for,” she said.

Anyone who thinks they have measles is urged to contact a health care provider before seeking in-person assessment so proper containment procedures can be put in place to protect other patients.

- With reporting from Colton Wiens.