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Edmonton’s second confirmed case of measles is prompting warnings to passengers and crew arriving on a recent Air Canada flight and people who were in the airport at the time.
The latest measles case in the Edmonton area involves a child who flew to Edmonton from the Philippines via Vancouver, said Marcia Johnson, Edmonton Zone Medical Officer of Health.
Dr. Marcia Johnson, Medical Officer of Health for the Edmonton zone thought that because the flight was later at night, there were fewer people at the airport.
Johnson said measles is an extremely contagious virus that spreads through the air.
Individuals without prior exposure to the disease, especially those who haven’t received the measles vaccine, are at higher risk of contracting it.
“You just have to be walking through the air space where a person of measles has walked through within two hours and you can be exposed,” she said.
Those who have already been exposed or are vaccinated cannot carry the virus and spread it along to other people, Johnson added.
The Alberta Health website shows measles vaccination rates in 2012 were as low as 42 per cent in the Wabasca region. The provincial average was 84 per cent. About 85 to 90% of two year olds in Alberta have received at least one vaccine.
Agencies/Canadajournal
