Canada Loses Measles Elimination Status, Raising concerns for U.S.
WASHINGTON – Canada has lost its measles elimination status, a progress health officials warn could foreshadow similar challenges for the United States as vaccination rates decline and outbreaks increase across the Americas. The Pan American Health Institution (PAHO), part of the World Health Organization, confirmed the change, citing sustained measles transmission within the country for over a year.
Measles was declared eliminated in the Americas in 2016. However, declining vaccination coverage has reversed progress, making the highly contagious virus increasingly prevalent. PAHO determines whether countries in North, South, and Central America have maintained or lost their elimination status; when one country loses status, the region as a whole is considered to have done so.
The situation in Canada mirrors a worrying trend observed in the U.S., where outbreaks are occurring in communities with lower vaccination rates. A cluster of cases concentrated in a close-knit community straddling the U.S. border is nearing 200 cases. In South Carolina alone, 38 cases have been reported in the northwestern part of the state since July.
A recent NBC News investigation revealed that since 2019,77% of U.S. counties and jurisdictions have reported declines in the number of children receiving routine childhood vaccinations, including the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shots – of which two doses are recommended. Vaccination coverage for both MMR doses across countries in the PAHO region averaged 79% last year, according to the group.
Measles is the most contagious virus known, capable of lingering in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room, and readily infecting unvaccinated individuals.
While the Americas currently accounts for only 7.5% of global measles cases – with the majority concentrated in the Middle East and South Asia – PAHO established a Regional Verification commission in 2019 to annually review countries’ ability to control measles spread. The commission met last week in Mexico City to analyze data submitted through October.
A PAHO spokesman stated the group could not confirm whether the independent committee will meet again in January to discuss measles spread in the U.S.
