Measles & Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report: February 22 to February 28, 2015 (week 8)

Key Points

  • In Canada, 7 new cases of measles were reported during week 08, by Quebec and one previously reported case in Ontario was discarded.
  • Three provinces have reported recent measles activity; these events are not linked as the genotypes are different (D4 in Ontario, B3 in Quebec, D8 in Manitoba).
  • A total of 51 cases of measles, and 0 cases of rubella have been reported in Canada for 2015.

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Date published: 2015-03-10

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Epidemiological Summary

Figure 1. Number of cases measles (n=51) 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 February 28, 2015.

Figure 1
Figure 1 - Text Description
Figure 1. Number of cases measles (n=51) 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 February 28, 2015.
Epidemiological Week of Rash Onset, 2015 Number of confirmed measles cases reported Number of confirmed rubella cases reported
1 0 0
2 1 0
3 3 0
4 12 0
5 2 0
6 13 0
7 12 0
8 8 0
9 0 0
10 0 0
11 0 0
12 0 0
13 0 0
14 0 0
15 0 0
16 0 0
17 0 0
18 0 0
19 0 0
20 0 0
21 0 0
22 0 0
23 0 0
24 0 0
25 0 0
26 0 0
27 0 0
28 0 0
29 0 0
30 0 0
31 0 0
32 0 0
33 0 0
34 0 0
35 0 0
36 0 0
37 0 0
38 0 0
39 0 0
40 0 0
41 0 0
42 0 0
43 0 0
44 0 0
45 0 0
46 0 0
47 0 0
48 0 0
49 0 0
50 0 0
51 0 0
52 0 0
Missing Rash Onset 0 0
Cases (year-to-date) 51 0


During epidemiological week 08, 2015, 7 new cases of measles were reported by Quebec. Rash onset for these cases occurred during week 08 (n=7).To date, cases in Quebec have primarily been reported in a non-immunizing religious community.

One previously reported case of measles in Ontario, with rash onset in week 07, has been discarded, as it was determined to be vaccine strain.

The year-to-date total is 51 cases of measles and 0 cases of rubella for 2015.

Note that when additional cases are reported in advance of the cycle, these cases will be described in the appropriate reporting cycle.

Geographic Distribution

Figure 2: Distribution of confirmed measles and rubella cases by health region. Cases are included if they are considered activeFigure 2 - Footnote *

Figure 2
Figure 2: Distribution of confirmed measles and rubella cases by health region. Cases are included if they are considered activeTable Figure 2 - Footnote *
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 32 0
Montréal et Laval 0 0
Ouest-du-Québec 0 0
Montérégie 0 0
Nord-Est 0 0
Ontario Central East 1 0
Ontario Central West 7 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 10 0
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority 1 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 Interior 0 0
British Columbia Fraser 0 0
British Columbia Vancouver Coastal 0 0
British Columbia Vancouver Island 0 0
British Columbia Northern 0 0
Yukon 0 0
Northwest Territories 0 0
Nunavut 0 0

Laboratory Summary

Measles

To date in 2015, 24 measles cases have been genotyped and the genotypes were: D4 (n=17), B3 (n=6) and D8 (n=1).

Of the 18 reported measles cases in Ontario, 17 cases have been genotyped. All have an identical genotype D4 strain, based on the standard N-450 sequence.

From Quebec, 6 cases were genotyped and were genotype B3, identical to the MVi/Harare.ZWE/38.09 sequence variant (GenBank accession number JF973033), and identical to the virus reported in a multi-state outbreak in the United States.

Finally, 1 case from Manitoba, with travel history to India, was genotype D8 which is endemic in IndiaFootnote 2.

Figure 3: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2015 (n=24) by week of rash onset (if available, n=24) or specimen collection (n=0). Epidemiological weeks are assigned in accordance with WHO guidelines (WHO.WER.2012;9(87):73) with week 1 beginning on the first Monday of the year.

Figure 3

* Genotype B3 sequences identical to sequence variant MVi/Harare.ZWE/38.09 (GenBank accession number JF973033)

Figure 3: Distribution of measles genotypes detected in 2015 cases by week of rash onset (if available) or specimen collection. Epidemiological weeks are assigned in accordance with WHO guidelines (WHO.WER.2012;9(87):73) with week 1 beginning on the first Monday of the year.
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 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 4 7 0 0 0 0 11
5 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2
6 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 7
7 0 1 1 0 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 0 0 0 0 0
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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 0 0 0 0 0
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 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 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 0 6 17 1 0 0 0 24


The current global distribution of measles genotypes can be found on the WHO Measles Nucleotide Surveillance (MeaNS) 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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