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Measles & Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report – Week 41: October 8 to October 14, 2023

Organization

Organization: Public Health Agency of Canada

Related topics

Key points:

  • In Canada, 2 new cases of measles and no new cases of rubella were reported in week 41, 2023.
  • Currently, there are 3 activeFootnote 1 cases of measles and 1 active case of congenital rubella syndrome in Canada.
  • 10 cases of measles, 1 case of rubella and 2 cases of congenital rubella syndrome have been reported in Canada in 2023.
  • Canadians travelling outside of Canada are encouraged to consult the travel health notices for information on measles and rubella outbreaks occurring in other countries.

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Epidemiological summary

During epidemiological week 41, 2023, 2 new cases of measles and no new cases of rubella were reported
in CanadaFootnote 2. The cases were reported by the province of Quebec and are unvaccinated young children who acquired the infection from a measles endemic country prior to arriving in Canada. Both cases developed rash onset in epidemiological week 41 on an airplane flight from oversees to Canada (October 9, 2023).

To date in 2023, 10 cases of measles, 1 case of rubella and 2 cases of congenital rubella syndrome have been reported.

Figure 1: Number of cases of measles (n=10), rubella (n=1)Footnote 3, and congenital rubella syndrome/infection (n=2)Footnote 4 by week of rash onset, as reported to the Canadian Measles/Rubella Surveillance System (CMRSS) and Measles and Rubella Surveillance System (MARS), for the period ending October 14, 2023.
Figure 1
Figure 1 - Text description
Epidemiological Week of Rash Onset, 2023 Number of confirmed measles cases reported Number of confirmed rubella cases reported Number of confirmed congenital rubella syndrome/infection cases reported
1 1 0 0
2 0 0 0
3 0 0 0
4 0 0 0
5 0 0 0
6 0 0 0
7 2 0 0
8 0 0 0
9 0 0 0
10 0 0 0
11 0 0 0
12 0 0 0
13 0 0 0
14 1 0 0
15 0 0 0
16 1 0 0
17 0 0 0
18 1 0 0
19 0 0 0
20 0 0 0
21 0 0 0
22 0 0 0
23 1 0 0
24 0 0 0
25 0 0 0
26 0 0 0
27 0 0 0
28 0 1 0
29 0 0 0
30 0 0 0
31 0 0 0
32 0 0 1
33 0 0 0
34 0 0 1
35 0 0 0
36 0 0 0
37 0 0 0
38 0 0 0
39 1 0 0
40 0 0 0
41 2 0 0
42 0 0 0
43 0 0 0
44 0 0 0
45 0 0 0
46 0 0 0
47 0 0 0
48 0 0 0
49 0 0 0
50 0 0 0
51 0 0 0
52 0 0 0
Cases (year-to-date) 10 1 2

Geographic distribution

There are currently 3 activeFootnote * cases of measles and 1 activeFootnote ** case of congenital rubella syndrome in Canada.

Figure 2: Distribution of activeFootnote *, confirmed measles cases by health region.
Figure 2
Figure 2 - Text description
Health Region Measles Active Cases
Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Central Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Western Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Labrador-Grenfell Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Prince Edward Island 0
South Shore District Health Authority 0
South West Nova District Health Authority 0
Annapolis Valley District Health Authority 0
Colchester East Hants Health Authority 0
Cumberland Health Authority 0
Pictou County Health Authority 0
Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority 0
Cape Breton District Health Authority 0
Capital District Health Authority 0
Zone 1 (NB) 0
Zone 2 (NB) 0
Zone 3 (NB) 0
Zone 4 (NB) 0
Zone 5 (NB) 0
Zone 6 (NB) 0
Zone 7 (NB) 0
Québec et Chaudières-Appalaches 0
Centre-du-Québec 0
Montréal et Laval 0
Ouest-du-Québec 2
Montérégie 0
Nord-Est 0
Ontario Central East 0
Ontario Central West 0
Ontario Eastern 0
Ontario North East 0
Ontario North West 0
Ontario South West 0
City of Toronto Health Unit 1
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority 0
Prairie Mountain Health 0
Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority 0
Northern Regional Health Authority 0
Southern Health 0
Saskatchewan South 0
Saskatchewan Central 0
Saskatchewan North 0
South Zone 0
Calgary Zone 0
Central Zone 0
Edmonton Zone 0
North Zone 0
British Columbia 0
Yukon 0
Northwest Territories 0
Nunavut 0
Figure 3: Distribution of activeFootnote **, confirmed congenital rubella syndrome/infection cases by health region.
Figure 3
Figure 3 - Text description
Health Region Measles Active Cases
Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Central Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Western Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Labrador-Grenfell Regional Integrated Health Authority 0
Prince Edward Island 0
South Shore District Health Authority 0
South West Nova District Health Authority 0
Annapolis Valley District Health Authority 0
Colchester East Hants Health Authority 0
Cumberland Health Authority 0
Pictou County Health Authority 0
Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority 0
Cape Breton District Health Authority 0
Capital District Health Authority 0
Zone 1 (NB) 0
Zone 2 (NB) 0
Zone 3 (NB) 0
Zone 4 (NB) 0
Zone 5 (NB) 0
Zone 6 (NB) 0
Zone 7 (NB) 0
Québec et Chaudières-Appalaches 0
Centre-du-Québec 0
Montréal et Laval 0
Ouest-du-Québec 0
Montérégie 0
Nord-Est 0
Ontario Central East 0
Ontario Central West 0
Ontario Eastern 0
Ontario North East 0
Ontario North West 0
Ontario South West 0
City of Toronto Health Unit 0
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority 0
Prairie Mountain Health 0
Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority 0
Northern Regional Health Authority 0
Southern Health 0
Saskatchewan South 1
Saskatchewan Central 0
Saskatchewan North 0
South Zone 0
Calgary Zone 0
Central Zone 0
Edmonton Zone 0
North Zone 0
British Columbia 0
Yukon 0
Northwest Territories 0
Nunavut 0

Laboratory summary

Measles

During epidemiological week 41, 2023, the measles genotype was identified for the 2 cases that were reported in the same week. The same genotype B3 strain was detected in both cases and is the genotype that is endemic in the region of travel.

To date in 2023, 10 cases of measles have been genotyped and the genotypes were B3 (n=5) and D8 (n=5).

Figure 4: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2023 (n=10) by weekFootnote † of rash onset.
Figure 4
Figure 4 - Text description
Epi week B3 B3 - Harare D4 D8 D8 - Taunton D9 H1 Total
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
38 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
39 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
41 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
43 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
44 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
45 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
46 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
48 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
49 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
51 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
52 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 10
Footnote †

Epidemiological weeks for laboratory specimens submitted to the National Microbiology Laboratory are assigned and reported in accordance with WHO guidelines (WHO.WER.2012;9(87):73) with week 1 beginning on the first Monday of the year, which for 2023 is January 02. However, for the purposes of this report, the genotype data is presented in accordance with PAHO reporting weeks with week 1 of 2023 beginning on January 01, 2023.

Return to footnote † referrer

For information regarding the interpretation and use of measles genotyping (including a discussion of genotypes and named strains), refer to Hiebert J and Severini A. Canada Communicable Disease Report. 2014; 40-12: 257- 260.

The current global distribution of measles genotypes can be found on the WHO Measles Surveillance website.

Rubella and Congenital rubella syndrome/infection

To date in 2023, 1 congenital rubella syndrome case has been genotyped and it was genotype 1G.

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