I watched mist thread through pine branches as I pulled into Cochrane last month, one more stop on my tour of rural healthcare concerns. Little did I know that just weeks later, this quiet Alberta town would be on high alert, along with nearby Airdrie and Calgary, as health officials tracked new measles exposures across the region.
On May 20, Alberta Health Services confirmed a case of measles in a returning international traveler who visited multiple public locations while infectious. The exposures occurred between May 11 and May 17, placing hundreds of unvaccinated individuals at risk of contracting this highly contagious virus.
“This isn’t just about one sick person,” Dr. Kristin Klein, Deputy Medical Officer of Health for Alberta, told me during a phone interview yesterday. “Measles is so contagious that if you’re unprotected, you have a 90% chance of getting it just by being in the same room as someone who’s infected, even up to two hours after they’ve left.”
The exposure sites include everyday locations many families frequent: Calgary International Airport’s international arrivals area, Peter’s Drive-In in Airdrie, and Cochrane’s Walmart Supercentre, among others. Health officials have released specific timeframes when the infected individual visited each location.
For Jordan Winters, a mother of three I met at a coffee shop in Cochrane, the alert brought immediate anxiety. “My youngest is only eight months old—too young for the MMR vaccine,” she explained, cradling her sleeping infant. “Now I’m worried about whether we were in the Walmart that day.”
The reality is that measles, once nearly eliminated in Canada, has been making a concerning comeback. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 2024 has already seen 43 confirmed cases nationwide, compared to just 12 in all of 2023. Alberta hadn’t recorded a case since 2019—until now.
What makes this particularly worrying is the timing. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, warned in March that vaccination rates for childhood immunizations including measles have dropped significantly since the pandemic. A Canadian Medical Association Journal study published in January found MMR vaccination coverage among Alberta kindergarteners fell from 86.5% pre-pandemic to 79.8% by 2023.
The measles virus can cause severe complications, particularly in young children. About one in five people who get measles will be hospitalized. Roughly one in 1,000 develops deadly brain inflammation. For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die despite the best care.
“What’s frustrating is that this is entirely preventable with a safe, effective vaccine that’s been around for decades,” says Dr. Klein. “But we’ve seen hesitancy increase in recent years, and the pandemic disrupted routine vaccination schedules for many families.”
In Calgary’s diverse neighborhoods, community health worker Amina Hassan has observed the challenges firsthand. “Some newcomer families missed appointments during COVID lockdowns and never caught up. Others hear misinformation from relatives overseas or social media and become scared.”
Alberta Health Services is now conducting contact tracing for the exposed locations and offering immunoglobulin protection to high-risk individuals who may have been exposed. The current case doesn’t appear to have spread within Alberta yet, but health officials remain vigilant.
Standing outside the Walmart in Cochrane where an exposure occurred, I watched parents pushing shopping carts, many likely unaware their families might have crossed paths with the virus. This unremarkable strip mall suddenly felt like the front line of public health.
The MMR vaccine is typically given to children at 12 months and again at 4-6 years of age, providing 97% protection after two doses. Alberta Health Services is urging anyone born after 1970 to ensure they’ve received two
