Measles & Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report - Week 10, 2018: March 4 to March 10, 2018

Key Points

  • In Canada, one new case of measles and no new cases of rubella were reported in week 10, 2018.
  • Four cases of measles and no cases of rubella have been reported in Canada in 2018.
  • Globally, there are large measles outbreaks reported in Europe which have affected a large number of countries. Canadians travelling to Europe are invited to consult the travel health notice for more information.

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Epidemiological summary:

During epidemiological week 10, 2018 one new laboratory-confirmed case of measles was reported in Canada1. The case is an unimmunized child who travelled to India and returned to Canada while communicable with measles. Rash onset was on March 6, 2018 the same day when the case was travelling by air to Canada from India via Switzerland. To date in 2018, a total of four cases have been reported, all imported from India. No secondary cases have resulted from these importations.

It has been 106 epidemiological weeks since the last rubella case was reported.

FIGURE 1: Number of cases of measles (n=4) 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 10, 2018.  

Figure 1 - Long Description
Figure 1: Number of cases of measles (n=4) 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 10, 2018.
Epidemiological Week of Rash Onset, 2018 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 1 0
7 1 0
8 0 0
9 0 0
10 1 0
Missing Rash Onset 0 0
Cases (year-to-date) 4 0

Geographic distribution

There is currently one activeFigure 2 - Footnote * case of measles reported in Canada.

There are no reported active cases of rubella in Canada.

Figure 2: Distribution of activeFigure 2 - Footnote *, confirmed measles cases by health region.

Figure 2 - Long Description
Figure 2: Distribution of activeFigure 2 - Footnote *, confirmed measles cases by health region. of rash onset.
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 0 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 1 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 0 0
Yukon 0 0
Northwest Territories 0 0
Nunavut 0 0

Laboratory summary

Measles

In 2018, three cases of measles have been genotyped and the genotypes were D8 (n=3) (Figure 3). 

Figure 3: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2018 (n=3) by weekFigure 3 - Footnote of rash onset.

Figure 3 - Long Description
Figure 3: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2018 (n=3) by weekFigure 3 - 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 1 0 0 0 1
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
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
Total 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3

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.

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