Ottawa: Canada has lost its measles elimination status, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) announced, after failing to contain an outbreak for 12 consecutive months.
The development means the Americas region as a whole can no longer be deemed measles-free, despite individual countries except Canada, still maintaining elimination status. The United States, however, may also lose its standing if it does not halt an ongoing outbreak by January, with related cases now confirmed in Utah, Arizona, and South Carolina.
Canada’s outbreak began in October 2024, and health authorities have attributed it to declining vaccination rates. Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO’s director stated that, “This loss represents a setback, but it is also reversible,” urging Canadian governments and citizens to ramp up immunisation efforts. PAHO noted that at least 95 percent of the population must be vaccinated to stop measles from spreading.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said it is working with PAHO and regional partners to boost vaccine uptake and improve data sharing. Once declared measles-free for nearly three decades, Canada can regain its elimination status if it curbs transmission of the current strain for at least 12 months. But the challenge is significant, over 5,000 measles cases have been reported so far in 2025, three times the number in the United States, concentrated mainly in Ontario and Alberta.
In Alberta’s South Zone, which includes Calgary, only 68 percent of children under two were immunised against measles as of 2024, far below the 95 percent threshold needed for community protection.
Experts say multiple factors have contributed to Canada’s low vaccination rates, including limited access to family doctors, the absence of a national immunisation registry, and persistent misinformation.
Prof. Dawn Bowdish, an immunologist at McMaster University remarked that, “It highlights how many of our systems broke down to get us to this point. I hope it will be a wake-up call to policymakers.” The Americas were the first and only region in the world to be declared measles-free in 2016, though that status was briefly revoked following outbreaks in Venezuela and Brazil, both of which regained elimination status in 2024 after mass vaccination campaigns.
Now, with rising cases in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which ranks among the world’s top 10 countries for measles outbreaks, the virus is again spreading across North America.
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