Charting the rise of measles in B.C.: Hundreds of cases with vast majority in northeast

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Seven months after measles was confirmed in northeast B.C., the province has experienced more than 400 cases. 

Measles has been present in Canada since 2024, starting in New Brunswick in October of that year and spreading across the country.

In 2025, Northern Health first reported a case of a “measles-like illness” in School District 60 on June 5th.

A few days later, the health authority confirmed the virus was present and spreading in the region, with northern B.C. accounting for 60 per cent of the cases reported at the time.

In July, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) began issuing case count reports twice a week, which reduced to once a week as of October 23rd.

As of the BCCDC’s final report of 2025, published on December 29th, Northern Health has reported 81.6 per cent of the province’s total measles cases. The health authority reported 314 confirmed cases and 24 probable cases from July to December, with 93.7 per cent or 317 patients, originating from northeast B.C. 

Northeast B.C. accounted for 76.5 per cent of all confirmed and probable measles cases reported in B.C. in 2025.

In November, the Public Health Agency of Canada stated the Pan American Health Organization had revoked Canada’s measles elimination status. 

This was because the organization confirmed that for the first time since 1998, the same strain of measles had seen ongoing transmission for more than one year. 

In its final report of the year, the BCCDC noted the province had experienced 389 confirmed cases and 25 probable cases for a total of 414 cases of measles. 

A case is considered ‘probable’ if the person who is ill recently travelled to an area of “known measles activity,” but a laboratory has yet to confirm if the ailment is measles.

Symptoms of measles include a cough, red and light-sensitive eyes, a fever, a runny nose and a rash which can last up to a week. The rash spreads from the face and neck to the upper body. 

Measles is a highly contagious and dangerous virus, able to survive in air-born water droplets expelled by breathing, coughing and sneezing. 

The virus is especially dangerous for vulnerable people, and results in one in 10 people needing hospitalization due to serious complications such as pneumonia, inflammation of the brain and death. 

Individuals who believe they may have measles or might have been exposed to the virus are advised by the BCCDC to isolate themselves and seek testing from their primary care provider. 

Individuals can begin to experience symptoms up to 12 days after becoming infected and they themselves have become contagious. 

According to the B.C. Ministry of Health, vaccination administrations increased by 134 per cent year on year in October, and 65 per cent across northern B.C. year on year in November.

Northern Health has stated the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is the only effective protection against the virus. 

To read Energeticcity.ca’s coverage of the measles outbreak in northeast B.C., visit our measles page.