I set my laptop aside as the ferry cut through the grey swells of the Inside Passage. A text from my editor had just come through: “Measles cases jumping in Northern Health region. Can you get up there by tomorrow?”
Three hours later, I was packing my bag in Vancouver, mentally preparing for what I’d find in a region experiencing its largest measles outbreak in decades.
Walking into the Prince George health unit the next morning, the waiting room told its own story. Anxious parents cradled infants, while others filled out paperwork with harried expressions. Posters about measles symptoms and vaccine information covered nearly every wall.
“We’ve seen 37 confirmed cases across Northern Health in the past month alone,” Dr. Rayna Forsythe told me, looking tired but composed behind her desk. As the regional communicable disease specialist, she’d been working overtime since the outbreak began. “That’s more than we’ve recorded in the past five years combined.”
The outbreak has primarily affected communities along Highway 16, with clusters in Prince George, Smithers, and several smaller communities. Most concerning to health officials: nearly 80% of cases have been in children under 10, and 68% were in unvaccinated individuals.
“What we’re seeing isn’t random,” Dr. Forsythe explained, pulling up a map on her computer. “These cases follow patterns of lower vaccination coverage that have been developing over the past decade.”
According to Health Canada data, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination rates in parts of Northern BC have fallen below 85% in recent years—well under the 95% needed for herd immunity against measles, one of the most contagious viruses known to medicine.
Later that afternoon, I met Sarah Daniels at a café near the hospital. Her four-year-old son Ethan had been diagnosed with measles three weeks earlier, despite being partially vaccinated with one dose.
“He had such a high fever I couldn’t believe it,” Sarah said, scrolling through photos on her phone showing Ethan’s rash-covered body. “The doctor said his vaccination probably made his case less severe, but it was still terrifying watching him suffer.”
What makes the Northern BC outbreak particularly challenging is geography. In remote communities, healthcare access has always been tenuous, and the pandemic years only widened these gaps.
“During COVID, we saw routine childhood vaccination appointments missed or delayed,” explained James Wren, a public health nurse who’s been coordinating mobile vaccination clinics across the region. “Some families never caught up, and now we’re seeing the consequences.”
At Takla Landing, a First Nations community about 320 kilometers northwest of Prince George, I joined a Northern Health outreach team offering vaccinations and education. The community had recorded four measles cases, prompting quick action.
Elder Margaret Isaac told me about historical reasons for vaccine hesitancy in some Indigenous communities. “There’s still distrust of government health programs in communities that remember forced medical treatments,” she said. “But our leadership is working hard to emphasize this is about protecting our children and elders.”
The outbreak has stretched Northern Health’s already thin resources. Staff have been redeployed from other services to manage contact tracing, vaccination clinics, and public education. The BC Centre for Disease Control has sent additional support teams to the region.
Dr. Melissa Tang from BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver described what happens when the virus finds vulnerable populations: “Measles isn’t just a rash and fever. We’re seeing children with pneumonia, encephalitis, and other serious complications requiring hospitalization. These are preventable tragedies.”
BC’s Ministry of Health reports that vaccination rates have started climbing in affected communities—a silver lining amid concerning circumstances. Emergency clinics have administered over 4,200 MMR vaccines across Northern Health in the past three weeks alone.
Back in Prince George, I visited the home of Chelsea Walkus, whose family of five all contracted measles despite being fully vaccinated—a rare but possible scenario doctors call “vaccine breakthrough.” Her oldest daughter experienced only mild symptoms, while her husband was hospitalized briefly.
“People think measles is a thing of the past, but it’s here, right now,” Chelsea said, nursing a cup of tea. “I can’t imagine how much worse it would have been without our vaccines.”
Public health officials point to several factors behind the outbreak: pandemic-disrupted healthcare, growing vaccine hesitancy fueled by online misinformation, and the unique challenges of delivering consistent healthcare across Northern BC’s vast geography.
Dr. Forsythe emphasized that the current outbreak was predictable. “When vaccination rates drop, measles returns. It’s that simple,” she said. “What we’re experiencing now isn’t a failure of vaccines—it’s a failure to vaccinate.”
As I prepared to leave the region, a final conversation with a young pediatric nurse named Michael Chu stayed with me. He’d been working overtime for weeks, trying to help families understand the importance of vaccination.
“Sometimes it takes seeing the reality of these diseases to remember why we developed vaccines in the first place,” he said, gazing out at the mountains visible from the hospital window. “My grandmother still talks about classmates she lost to diseases we now prevent. I hope we don’t have to relearn those lessons the hard way.”
The Northern BC measles outbreak serves as a stark reminder that public health requires constant vigilance. As one epidemiologist at the BC Centre for Disease Control told me, “Viruses don’t care about borders, politics, or beliefs. They only care about finding hosts.”
For the communities of Northern BC, that reality has become impossible to ignore.
