Measles warning issued at 2 popular Calgary restaurants
National and Cibo patrons, as well as staff and students at Western Canada High School, may be at risk
Patrons at two popular Calgary restaurants may have come into contact with the measles, Alberta Health Services warned Thursday.
People who were at National Westhills on March 24 and March 25 or at Cibo on 17th Avenue S.W. on March 29 and March 30 could be at risk, said the agency.
The warning comes after Western Canada High School alerted staff, students and parents on Wednesday that they may have been exposed.
Two cases have been confirmed. AHS says one of the people who contracted the disease worked at National and the other worked at Cibo. Of these two cases, one of the infected people also went to Western. Cibo, however, maintains it was a sister of one of their staff members who has the measles.
Measles cases
So far this year there have been:
- 5 in Calgary
- 3 in central Alberta
- 1 in Edmonton
In 2013, there were 43 cases in the AHS South Zone, which includes Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, as well as one case in the Calgary zone.
People who may be at risk of developing the disease are advised to monitor themselves for symptoms.
AHS' Dr. Judy MacDonald said people who develop symptoms should stay home and call Health Link, at 1-866-408-5465, for directions on how to proceed.
If exposed, people can get the vaccine within 72 hours to fight it off. However, that window has likely closed for most, as they were exposed last week or early this week, said MacDonald.
"That vaccine is not going to help prevent them from developing the disease," she said.
MacDonald says if students and staff at the school cannot prove they are immune they will be sent home.
"Through April 21 they are excluded from school, they are not supposed to be out in the public, because they could be infectious at any time, even before they become symptomatic, thus exposing others."
Health officials are concerned with those who were at the school between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. MT on March 31.
Neither person who contracted the disease was immunized.
