Halton Region Public Health warns of potential measles exposures in Burlington and Milton

Justin Chandler · CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 12:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Recent visitors to a Burlington, Ont., wellness centre and Milton, Ont., session whitethorn person been exposed to measles, Halton wellness officials say.

The imaginable Burlington exposures occurred astatine the Halton Family Health Centre gathering astatine 2951 Walkers Line connected April 26 betwixt 9 a.m and 12:30 p.m.

The imaginable Milton exposures occurred astatine Halton Medic Clinic Milton astatine 100 Bronte St. S. connected April 27 betwixt 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Halton Region Public Health said Thursday. 

In a quality release, wellness officials warned visitors to those locations to cheque that they person up-to-date measles vaccinations. Two doses are recommended for anyone calved since 1970. 

WATCH | Measles cases surge successful Ontario, Alberta:

People without immunity to measles, babies, large women and those with anemic immune systems tin get "very ill" from the "highly contagious" airborne virus, wellness officials said. They should interaction a healthcare nonrecreational oregon nationalist wellness for assessment. 

Measles symptoms tin look wrong 1 to 3 weeks and see fever, cough, runny nose, tiny achromatic spots wrong the rima and a rash that spreads down the assemblage from the face.

If you deliberation you person symptoms and request to spot a doctor, telephone up truthful they tin instrumentality precautions, Halton nationalist wellness said. 

"Vaccination remains the champion protection, and we impulse each residents, particularly families with young children, to guarantee their immunizations are current," Dr. Deepika Lobo, Medical Officer of Health for Halton Region, said.

However, Halton wellness officials archer CBC News less than a 4th of seven-year-olds successful the portion are known to beryllium vaccinated against measles. That fig whitethorn beryllium higher owed to underreporting of vaccinations but they bash not know. 

This week, Ontario is reporting 233 caller measles infections — the highest play summation successful measles cases since October, erstwhile an outbreak began. 

Public Health Ontario information published May 1 shows 1,243 radical successful the state person fallen sick from the microorganism since October, including 84 radical who person been hospitalized. Of those hospitalized, 63 are children and 8 were admitted to intensive care.

At Queen's Park Thursday, absorption leaders called connected the state to bash more. 

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore has been "working incredibly hard" to code the outbreak alongside section nationalist wellness units.

Epidemiologist says emergence successful cases is 'jarring'

Dr. Sarah Wilson, a aesculapian epidemiologist astatine Public Health Ontario, told The Canadian Press it's "jarring" to spot the corruption numbers aft respective weeks of cases successful the 100 range, and that it volition beryllium important to show what happens next.

She said this summation is due to the fact that of "very significant" transmission successful parts of the state wherever less radical are vaccinated, concentrated successful southwestern Ontario, chiefly infecting infants, kids and teenagers.

Southwestern Public Health's Dr. Ninh Tran said this "sharp rise" is owed to exposures successful ample unvaccinated households betwixt household members, and places wherever radical who aren't immunized gather, but not a peculiar lawsuit oregon group. 

Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a Toronto household doctor, told The Canadian Press the state could bash more, specified arsenic launching a large nationalist wellness run to thatch parents however to place the disease, and tracking vaccinations to place unvaccinated areas. 

Measles has historically been uncommon successful Ontario "owing to the palmy elimination of measles successful Canada and precocious immunization coverage," Public Health Ontario said it its May 1 report. "Due to an summation successful measles enactment globally successful 2024, Ontario began to spot much cases of measles."

Health officials person linked the existent outbreak to question betwixt Ontario, New Brunswick and different provinces.