Were you there?: Northern Health identifies new measles exposure times, places in Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The regional health authority has confirmed four instances where people in Fort St. John were exposed to measles.

On June 27th, amid an outbreak in northeast B.C., Northern Health posted to Facebook to warn the community about the times and places they may have contracted measles.

There were three separate cases on June 23rd: one in Fort St. John Hospital between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., one on a Westjet flight from Fort St. John to Vancouver between 12:44 p.m. mountain daylight time and 2:44 p.m. pacific daylight time, and a potential case at North Peace Regional Airport between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

A fourth exposure may have occurred at Bert Bowes Middle School between June 18th and 20th.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has told people who have been exposed to measles to monitor for symptoms, which include a fever, cough, runny nose, red and inflamed eyes that are sensitive to light, and a rash.

It is reporting 63 cases in the province, 41 of those in Northern Health’s region.

However, it says the cases “only captures a subset of the actual cases as some communities have a large disease burden, and not everyone is presenting to Northern Health for diagnosis and healthcare support.”

The B.C. CDC says people who have been exposed to measles and are not immune – for example, with two doses of the measles vaccine – may be asked to stay home and isolate, but officials will get in touch with known contacts of measles patients to provide further instructions.

It says people who are most at risk of infection are the completely unvaccinated, including children under one year of age.

On Friday, Northern Health’s chief medical officer Dr Jong Kim encouraged residents to get their measles vaccination if they had not already done so.

For more information about risk factors, exposure locations and what those with measles symptoms should do, visit the B.C. CDC’s measles page.