Warning issued of new measles exposure in Montney on Jan 22

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is shown on a countertop at a pediatric clinic in Greenbrae, Calif. on Feb. 6, 2015. Measles outbreaks internationally have health officials in British Columbia encouraging people to check their immunization records if they plan to travel abroad during spring break. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Eric Risberg — A measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Eric Risberg)

MONTNEY, B.C. — The region’s health authority is reporting another potential measles exposure in the Montney area.

Northern Health warned of the exposure on Thursday, January 22nd in a Facebook post on Thursday, March 5th.

Anyone who was at the Montney Mennonite Church at 12537 256 Road between the hours of 10 a.m and 2 p.m. should monitor for symptoms of measles, which is spread through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs or breathes.

Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red light-sensitive eyes and a rash, which can last up to a week, and small, white spots inside the mouth.

This comes after Northern Health warned of other recent exposures: one at the Evangelical Mission Church on 89th Avenue on February 15th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; a second at Subway on Alaska Road South on February 23rd from 12 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.; and a third at the Fort St. John Hospital emergency department from 11:35 p.m. on January 17th to 10.10 a.m. on January 18th.

Measles can be a serious disease – especially for vulnerable people – with one in 10 hospitalized with complications such as pneumonia and inflammation in the brain. It can also be fatal.

Currently, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) puts the case count across B.C. since the outbreak last year at 429 confirmed cases, with an additional 30 listed as ‘probable,’ meaning there could be as many as 459 cases province-wide.