The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has confirmed a case of measles the province.
The case was diagnosed in Yorkton, in a returning traveler who had recently flown into the Regina airport on June 9 after overseas travel. As a result, the SHA is issuing an exposure alert for individuals who travelled on specific flights, and through specific airports, as follows:
The plane was an Air China Limited flight CA 0948, departing from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 2:50 a.m. and arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport at 11:25 a.m. The passenger with measles was at the Beijing airport prior to boarding the next flight.
The China Limited flight CA 0991 departed from Beijing Capital International Airport at 15:25 and arrived in Vancouver International Airport (YVR) at 10:50 a.m. on June 9.
The passenger went through the Canada Customs and Immigration area shortly thereafter, and then flew from Vancouver to Regina on Air Canada flight 8572, departing at 2 p.m. and arriving in Regina at 5 p.m.
Between the hours of 5 p.m. on June 9 and 3:40 a.m. on June 10, the patient was at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre.
If you have been on any of these flights or in the airport or in the Yorkton Regional Health Centre during the times above, and are pregnant, immunosuppressed or under the age of one, you may qualify for preventative treatment.
Measles is a highly infectious disease transmitted by airborne spread. Passengers, crew, travelers and area residents who may have come into contact with measles as above, and are unsure of their immunization against measles, are asked to contact their local public health office. While it is expected that the majority of travellers will be immune to measles, some individuals may be susceptible.
Individuals most at risk from measles are those who are completely unvaccinated against the disease, including babies under one year of age. Individuals born after 1970 should have received two doses of a measles vaccine (often given as combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR) to be protected. Those who were born prior to 1970 are likely to be immune due to prior measles infection.
Infected individuals are likely to develop symptoms within seven to 21 days of being exposed. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a rash that starts centrally including on the face, spreads to the limbs and lasts at least three days.
