Two confirmed measles cases in Ottawa
Ottawa Public Health is investigating the city’s first measles case since 2019, the authority said on Thursday.
An adult and a child who live in Ottawa are believed to be the first people in the city to acquire the measles while travelling internationally. Ottawa Public Health (OPH) notified people who could have been exposed to the confirmed cases.
The risk to the general population remains low, the health agency said, but there are two locations where people could have come in contact with the cases.
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- Food Basics located at 1021 Cyrville Rd.
- Monday April 21, 2025, between 5 pm and 8 pm
- Costco located at 1405 Blair Towers Pl. (near Ogilvie Road)
- Wednesday April 23, 2025, between 6 pm and 8:45 pm
OPH is asking people to monitor for symptoms until May 12 or May 14 if they attended either of those places at the specified times.
Symptoms to watch out for include:
- High fever
- Cough
- Runny nose
- White spots in the mouth
- Red watery eyes
- Rash on face that spreads
If people do have symptoms, public health is asking them to call their physician before going in, allowing the office to take precautions.
“Measles is a highly contagious viral respiratory infection caused by the measles virus,” OPH said. “The most effective way to protect yourself against measles is to ensure you and your family are vaccinated against the virus.”
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Outbreak across Ontario
Measles has been spreading throughout the province, with the majority of cases in the Southwestern Public Health unit, where there are 181 cases per 100,000 people.
In the last several weeks case counts have climbed, with officials saying this is the largest outbreak in the province‘s last 30 years. From April 23, Ontario added 233 new cases to the total, after multiple weeks of triple-digit cases. The vast majority (86.8 per cent) of cases being added are among children who are not immunized against the virus, the report’s data shows.
“The increase in the number of outbreak cases and the geographic spread in recent weeks is due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized,” the report reads.
