Measles & Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report: March 5 to March 11, 2017 (week 10)

Key Points

In Canada, 1 new case of measles was reported in week 10, 2017.
Three provinces have active measles cases: Nova Scotia (n=4), Alberta (n=1), and British Columbia (n=1). These events are not linked, as they resulted from separate importation events (from USA, Indonesia, and France respectively). There are no active cases of rubella.
A total of 9 cases of measles, and zero cases of rubella have been reported in Canada in 2017.

Epidemiological Summary

During epidemiological week 10, 2017, 1 new case of measles was reported in Canada¹. This case had rash onset during week 9 (n=1).

To date in 2017, 9 cases of measles have been reported in Canada from three different provinces, Nova Scotia (n=7), Alberta (n=1), and British Columbia (n=1). These events are not linked, as they resulted from separate importation events (from USA, Indonesia, and France respectively). Rash onsets occurred during week 4 (n=1), week 6 (n=2), week 7 (n=1), week 8 (n=4), and week 9 (n=1). No cases of rubella have been reported in 2017 (Figure 1). It has been 56 epidemiologic weeks since the last rubella case was reported (week 6, 2016).

Organization: Public Health Agency of Canada

Date published: 2017-03-22

Figure 1: Number of cases measles (n=9) and rubella (n=0), 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 March 11, 2017.
Epidemiological Week of Rash Onset, 2017	Number of confirmed measles cases reported	Number of confirmed rubella cases reported
1	0	0
2	0	0
3	0	0
4	1	0
5	0	0
6	2	0
7	1	0
8	4	0
9	1	0
10	0	0
Missing Rash Onset	0	0
Cases (year-to-date)	9	0

Geographic Distribution

There are currently 7 reported active^{Figure 2 Footnote *} cases of measles in Canada, 5 in Nova Scotia and 2 in Ontario (Figure 2).

There are no reported active cases of rubella in Canada (Figure not shown).

Maps from previous weeks, including any retrospective updates, are available online in the Measles and rubella weekly surveillance maps feature.

Figure 2: Distribution of active ^{Figure 2 Table - Footnote *} confirmed measles cases by health region
Health Region	Measles Cases	Rubella Cases
Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority	0	0
Central Regional Integrated Health Authority	0	0
Western Regional Integrated Health Authority	0	0
Labrador-Grenfell Regional Integrated Health Authority	0	0
Prince Edward Island	0	0
South Shore District Health Authority	5	0
South West Nova District Health Authority	0	0
Annapolis Valley District Health Authority	0	0
Colchester East Hants Health Authority	0	0
Cumberland Health Authority	0	0
Pictou County Health Authority	0	0
Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority	0	0
Cape Breton District Health Authority	0	0
Capital District Health Authority	0	0
Zone 1 (NB)	0	0
Zone 2 (NB)	0	0
Zone 3 (NB)	0	0
Zone 4 (NB)	0	0
Zone 5 (NB)	0	0
Zone 6 (NB)	0	0
Zone 7 (NB)	0	0
Québec et Chaudières-Appalaches	0	0
Centre-du-Québec	0	0
Montréal et Laval	0	0
Ouest-du-Québec	0	0
Montérégie	0	0
Nord-Est	0	0
Ontario Central East	0	0
Ontario Central West	0	0
Ontario Eastern	0	0
Ontario North East	0	0
Ontario North West	0	0
Ontario South West	0	0
City of Toronto Health Unit	2	0
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority	0	0
Prairie Mountain Health	0	0
Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority	0	0
Northern Regional Health Authority	0	0
Southern Health	0	0
Saskatchewan South	0	0
Saskatchewan Central	0	0
Saskatchewan North	0	0
South Zone	0	0
Calgary Zone	0	0
Central Zone	0	0
Edmonton Zone	0	0
North Zone	0	0
British Columbia	1	0
Yukon	0	0
Northwest Territories	0	0
Nunavut	0	0
Figure 2 Table - Footnote * Active cases or outbreaks are those in which the onset date of the most recent case/outbreak-associated case falls within 32 days of the issue date of this report. Return to Figure 2 Table - Footnote * referrer

Laboratory Summary

Measles

To date in 2017, 3 measles cases have been genotyped and the genotypes are B3 (n=3). Genotype information is pending for 3 additional cases. (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2017 (n=3) by week ^{Figure 3 Table - Footnote †} of rash onset.
Epi week	B3	B3 - Harare	D4	D8	D8 - Taunton	D9	H1	Total
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
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	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
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
Total	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Figure 3 Table - Footnote † Epidemiological weeks for laboratory specimens are assigned in accordance with WHO guidelines (WHO.WER.2012;9(87):73) with week 1 beginning on the first Monday of the year. Return to Figure 3 Table - Footnote † referrer Figure 3 Table - Footnote * Genotype B3 sequences identical to sequence variant / named strain MVi/Harare.ZWE/38.09 (GenBank accession number JF973033) Return to Figure 3 Table - Footnote * referrer

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

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

Rubella

To date in 2017, no rubella cases have been genotyped.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Only cases with rash onset up to the indicated end date are included in this report. Any additional cases will be described in future reports.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

Public Health Agency of Canada. Guidelines for the prevention and control of measles outbreaks in Canada. Canadian Communicable Disease Report. 2013. Vol. 39: Definitions: conclusion of an outbreak (p. 5).

Return to footnote 2 referrer

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Date modified:: 2021-06-16

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