Canada no longer measles-free after 5,000 cases recorded this year
Canada loses 27-year measles-free status
- Canada has lost its measles elimination status after recording 5,138 cases in a year, ending a 27-year measles-free period.
- The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) declared this, resulting in the entire region of the Americas also losing its status.
- This development is attributed to a decline in child vaccination rates in Canada, falling below the 95 per cent coverage required to prevent outbreaks.
- Experts have described the loss of status as “worrisome and embarrassing”, with concerns that the US could be the next country to follow suit.
- US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has promoted vaccine misinformation, acknowledged the serious impact of the measles outbreak.