Spread of measles in northern B.C. brings province’s tally to 30 cases

There are now 18 confirmed or assumed cases of measles in B.C.’s north, bringing the provincial tally to 30 infections.

The Northern Health Authority first sounded the alarm about the highly infectious disease spreading in Wonowon, a small community located approximately 89 kilometres northwest of Fort St. John, over the weekend.

Officials have since revealed there are seven measles cases in the Northern Health region confirmed through laboratory testing, and another 11 that are assumed based on symptoms and known exposure.

The health authority said the initial case is believed to have been “travel-acquired,” and that residents of Wonowon and neighbouring communities may have been exposed to the disease in various settings going back to late May.

There was also an exposure risk in the waiting area of Fort St. John Hospital’s emergency department in the early morning hours of June 2.

Vancouver Coastal Health has reported eight cases so far this year, and Fraser Health has confirmed four.

New exposure warning

While there have been no confirmed cases in the Interior Health region, officials issued an exposure warning Tuesday about a “visitor to B.C.” who was recently in the community of Sparwood while infectious.

Officials said anyone who was in the McDonald’s restaurant on Middletown Place on June 8, from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., could have been exposed to the disease.

“Interior Health is following up directly with individuals who are known to have been exposed to complete contact tracing,” the health authority said, in a public service announcement. “The risk to the broader public is considered low.”

According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, it can take up to three weeks post-exposure for a patient to show measles symptoms.

Those can include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed days later by a rash that begins at the hairline and spreads rapidly down the body.

Officials have asked that anyone suspected to be suffering from measles inform their health-care provider before heading into a clinic, so precautions can be taken to prevent further spread.

Worst year since 1998

The spread of the disease has been much worse in other jurisdictions, particularly Ontario and Alberta, which have already recorded nearly 3,000 cases combined.

Less than halfway through the year, Canada has experienced more measles cases nationwide than it has since measles was declared eliminated in 1998 – an issue health officials have blamed on declining vaccination rates.

In B.C., the vaccination rate among seven-year-olds was 72.4 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which data is available.

That’s down from a rate of 90.9 per cent a decade earlier, before the anti-vaccine movement grew in popularity, including on social media.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Ian Holliday