Confirmed measles cases in Edmonton region, Peace River prompt potential measles exposure warning

Alberta Health Services issued advisories on Monday to warn about possible exposure to a confirmed measles case in the Edmonton region and another confirmed case in Peace River.

AHS says the confirmed case in the Edmonton Zone was in public settings while infectious. AHS notes three locations that had risk of exposure:

• April 10 at the Kinder Care Medical Clinic on 107th Avenue in Edmonton, from 1:45 p.m. to 4:38 p.m.
• April 11 at Ross Creek Medical Imaging in Fort Saskatchewan, from 07:50 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• April 14 at ROKband Pediatric Headshape Clinic on 50th Street in Edmonton, from 9 a.m. to noon.

In Peace River, one location was flagged by the health authority:

• April 15-16 at Peace River Community Health Centre emergency department, from 9:20 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The health agency says anyone who was born in or after 1970 and has had less than two doses of measles-containing vaccine is at risk, and is encouraging Albertans to review their vaccination records and monitor for symptoms.

Measles is one of the most infectious communicable diseases in the world and spreads easily through the air.

The province has not updated its measles dashboard since Thursday, so it is not known whether the two confirmed cases that prompted the advisories are included in its latest numbers. As of Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases to date is 89. Of those, 83 individuals are now past the period of communicability, the province says.

Measles symptoms include:

• High fever.
• Cough.
• Runny nose.
• Red eyes.
• A blotchy, red rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts.

If symptoms of measles develop, people are being told by AHS to stay home and call Health Link at 811. If the infected person needs medical care, they should call Health Link before visiting any health-care facility.