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Measles & Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report – Week 44: October 27 to November 2, 2024

Organization: Public Health Agency of Canada
Date published: 2024-11-14

Related Topics

Key points:

  • In Canada, 17 new cases of measles and no new cases of rubella were reported in week 44, 2024.
  • Currently, there are 18 activeFootnote 1 cases of measles in Canada.
  • 100 cases of measles and 1 case of congenital rubella syndrome/infection have been reported in Canada in 2024.
  • 1 measles death has been reported in Canada in 2024.
  • 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 44, 2024, 17 new cases of measles and no new cases of rubella were reported in CanadaFootnote 2. Among these 17 cases, 11 were reported by the province of New Brunswick and 6 were reported by the province of Ontario. All the cases were epidemiologically linked to one imported case that was reported by New Brunswick in epidemiological week 42. Of these cases, 14 were children and 3 were adults. All the cases were unvaccinated and had rash onset in epidemiological week 44.

To date in 2024, 100 cases of measles and 1 case of congenital rubella syndrome/infection have been reported, along with 1 measles death. The last case of rubella was reported in September 2023

Figure 1: Number of cases of measles (n=100), rubella (n=0), and congenital rubella syndrome/infection (n=1)Footnote 3 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 November 2, 2024.
Figure 1. Text version below.
Figure 1: Descriptive text
Epidemiological Week of Rash Onset, 2024 Number of confirmed measles cases reported Number of confirmed rubella cases reported Number of confirmed congenital rubella syndrome/infection cases reported
1 0 0 0
2 1 0 0
3 1 0 0
4 0 0 0
5 1 0 0
6 1 0 1
7 3 0 0
8 3 0 0
9 10 0 0
10 6 0 0
11 8 0 0
12 6 0 0
13 7 0 0
14 7 0 0
15 4 0 0
16 7 0 0
17 6 0 0
18 4 0 0
19 1 0 0
20 1 0 0
21 0 0 0
22 0 0 0
23 0 0 0
24 0 0 0
25 1 0 0
26 0 0 0
27 0 0 0
28 2 0 0
29 0 0 0
30 1 0 0
31 0 0 0
32 0 0 0
33 0 0 0
34 1 0 0
35 0 0 0
36 0 0 0
37 0 0 0
38 0 0 0
39 0 0 0
40 0 0 0
41 0 0 0
42 1 0 0
43 0 0 0
44 17 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) 100 0 1

Laboratory summary

Measles

To date in 2024, 72 cases of measles have been genotyped; 53 were B3 and 19 were D8.

Figure 2: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2024 (n=72) by weekFootnote † of rash onset.
Figure 2. Text version below.
Figure 2: Descriptive text
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 1 0 0 0 1
3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
8 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
9 9 0 0 1 0 0 0 10
10 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 5
11 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
12 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
13 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
14 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
15 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
16 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 5
17 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 5
18 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 4
19 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
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 1 0 0 0 1
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 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
41 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
42 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
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 53 0 0 19 0 0 0 72
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 2024 is January 1. However, for the purposes of this report, the genotype data is presented in accordance with PAHO reporting weeks with week 1 of 2024 beginning on December 31, 2023.

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.

Return to footnote † referrer

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Active measles cases are those in which the onset date of the case falls within 42 days of the end date of the epidemiological week of the report. Active rubella cases are those in which the onset date of the case falls within 46 days of the end date of the epidemiological week of the report.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

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 2 referrer

Footnote 3

Epidemiological week of birth is used for congenital rubella syndrome/infection cases.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

Page details

2024-01-20