Quebec confirms 4 new cases in measles outbreak, warns of possible exposure

MONTREAL — Quebec’s health department is warning people who may have been exposed to measles in several regions of the province to monitor for symptoms amid a new outbreak of the disease.

As of Friday, four cases have been confirmed in the province, and all are connected to an outbreak that started in December, said Marie-Pierre Blier, a communications agent with the health department.

“According to the information available to public health, these four cases are epidemiologically linked,” Blier said in a written statement Saturday. Blier said all of the confirmed cases acquired measles in the province, with the first person exposed to someone who lives outside Canada but travelled to Quebec while contagious.

Despite saying that some of the cases are in the Laurentians regions of Quebec, the small number of cases means “it is not possible to provide exact figures by region for privacy reasons,” Blier said.

On its website, the government lists 12 different locations and dates of exposure in the Laurentians region, dating between Dec. 11 and Dec. 28. The site also warns of two possible exposure sites in Laval on Dec. 19 and 22, as well as one exposure site in Montreal on Dec. 22.

Blier confirmed there were a total of 56 measles cases in Quebec in 2024, 51 of which occurred in an outbreak between February and June.

“For each measles case reported in Quebec, a public health investigation is conducted in order to determine the source of the infection and to identify people who may have been exposed to the measles virus. Preventive treatment of people exposed to the measles virus can limit the spread of the disease,” the government website reads.

People who have been to the listed exposure sites, especially those who are unvaccinated, should watch out for symptoms including high fever, cough, runny nose as well as red eyes and redness on one’s face and body, the government website says. Babies under one year old, people with weakened immune systems and inadequately vaccinated pregnant women are particularly at risk, it adds.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2025.

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press