A midwestern Ontario health unit has recorded more new measles cases than any other in the province over the past week.
Public Health Ontario reported 32 new cases of the highly contagious virus between July 8 and 15, with 19 of them confirmed in Huron-Perth. This brings the total case count for the area monitored by Huron Perth Public Health to 278 since the measles outbreak began last October. Provincially, there has been a total of 2,276 cases.
Huron-Perth's infection rate now stands at of 178.1 cases per 100,000 people. That is considerably higher than nearby Grey-Bruce's infection rate of 28.7 cases per 100,000 people. Only one new case was identified in Grey-Bruce over the past week.
The recent uptick in Huron-Perth was reportedly due to an exposure at a private gathering. The region continues to have the third highest overall case count in the province. Only the areas covered by Southwestern Public Health and Grand Erie Public Health have recorded more.
Earlier in the week, Huron Perth Public Health warned of a possible exposure at the St. Marys Memorial Hospital. Anyone who visited the hospital's emergency department between 8:55 a.m. and 11:35 a.m. on Monday may have been exposed to measles. The health unit has advised those who were there during that timeframe to monitor for symptoms, which can take up to 21 days to appear. Symptoms of measles include fever, a red blotchy rash, red watery eyes, and cough.
Public health officials have stated that immunization is the best protection against measles.
"Almost all infant, child, and adolescent outbreak cases (96.3 per cent) were unimmunized, while 68.5 per cent of adults were unimmunized," Public Health Ontario said in its latest measles report issued Thursday.
Alberta and New Brunswick are also dealing with outbreaks.