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Public alert issued after lab-confirmed case of measles in Alberta

Feb 24, 2019 | 12:33 PM

Alberta Health Services has issued a public alert following a confirmed case of measles in the province.

The health authority says an individual with lab-confirmed measles visited Leduc and stopped at several locations on Feb. 12 & 13.

The individual is said to have travelled from Vancouver International Airport to Edmonton International on the 12th. Vancouver Coastal Health has confirmed 10 cases of measles over the last two weeks.

Exposure locations around Leduc include the EIA Hotel Shuttle, the Walmart Supercentre, the Stars Inn Hotel, and Canadian North Flight #5T-444 to Inuvik, which departed from Edmonton.

People who were at those locations in the noted timeframesand who were born after 1970, and have NOT had measles previously, or have not received two doses of measles vaccine, may be at risk.

“Given the timeframe of the potential exposure, post-exposure immunization is not effective. Individuals are encouraged to monitor for symptoms for 21 days after the date of potential exposure, which could be up to March 5, 2019,” the advisory states.”

“If symptoms of measles do develop, these individuals are advised to stay home and call Health Link at 811, before visiting any health care facility or provider.”

Symptoms include fever of 38.3 degrees Celsius or higher, a cough, with runny nose and/or red eyed, a red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after the fever which spreads all over the body.

“Measles is an extremely contagious disease, spread easily through the air. There is no treatment for measles; however, it can be prevented through immunization,” the advisory adds.

For further information on routine childhood immunization, visit www.immunizealberta.ca.