The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced Monday that Canada has lost its measles elimination status after failing to control a measles outbreak for 12 consecutive months.
As a result of Canada’s status change, the Americas region has also lost its designation as measles-free, although other individual countries within the region still maintain their elimination status.
The United States faces the potential loss of its elimination status if it does not contain an ongoing outbreak by January. Related cases have been reported in Utah, Arizona, and South Carolina.
Canada’s outbreak began in October of last year, with health officials citing declining vaccination rates as a primary factor.
At a press conference Monday, PAHO officials urged Canadian governments and the public to increase vaccination efforts, emphasizing that 95% population immunity is required to halt the spread of measles.
“This loss represents a setback, but it is also reversible,” stated Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the health organization.
The Public Health Agency of Canada released a statement affirming its collaboration with PAHO and regional health authorities to boost vaccine coverage and improve data sharing.
Canada had maintained measles-free status for three decades prior to Monday’s announcement. The country can regain its elimination status by controlling the spread of the current measles strain for at least 12 months.
The country has reported over 5,000 measles cases in 2025, concentrated primarily in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. This figure is three times the 1,681 cases reported in the U.S., despite Canada’s significantly smaller population.
Canadian health officials have attributed the majority of the outbreak to “under-vaccinated communities.”
Data from Alberta, a province significantly impacted by the outbreak, indicates vaccination rates below the 95% threshold.
In the South Zone, which includes Calgary, the province’s largest city, only 68% of children under two were immunized against measles as of 2024.
The MMR vaccine remains the most effective defense against the virus, which can lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. The vaccine boasts a 97% efficacy rate and provides immunization against mumps and rubella as well.
Canadian immunologist Dawn Bowdish told the BBC that a multitude of factors contributed to low vaccination rates, including limited access to general practitioners, the absence of a national vaccination registry, and the proliferation of misinformation.
She also pointed to a lack of public health outreach targeting communities exhibiting vaccine hesitancy or distrust.
“It highlights how many of our systems broke down to get us to this point,” said Prof. Bowdish of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“I hope that it will be a wake-up call to policymakers, and that it will be enough of a national embarrassment that we remedy some of those systemic issues,” she added.
The Americas achieved the distinction of being the first and only region in the world declared measles-free in 2016. This status was temporarily revoked following outbreaks in Venezuela and Brazil. Both countries regained their elimination status in 2024, owing in part to coordinated vaccination initiatives that immunized millions.
However, measles has since resurged, now impacting North America.
Alongside Canada and the United States, Mexico has experienced a surge in cases and now ranks among the top 10 countries with the largest outbreaks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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