Passengers warned of measles

Photo: CTV

This is a measles virus seen through an electron micrograph. (C. S. Goldsmith; William Bellini, Ph.D.)

Health officials in Edmonton are warning passengers who arrived in the city on a flight from Vancouver earlier this month that they may have been exposed to measles.

The warning further extends to anyone who was in Edmonton International Airport during the hours immediately after the Air Canada plane landed.

Alberta Health Services issued a news release Saturday stating that it had confirmed a case of measles in the area.

The release says passengers and crew on Air Canada Flight 248, which departed Vancouver at 8:30 p.m. on April 9 and arrived in Edmonton at 9:35 p.m. may have been exposed.

It says anyone who was at the airport from the time the plane arrived up until 2 a.m. the following morning could also be at risk of contracting the illness.

The health agency says those people who have not had measles before, or who have not received two doses of the measles vaccine, should be on the lookout for symptoms.

It also says anyone who experiences symptoms should stay home and call the province's health advice line before visiting a doctor or health care facility.

Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus, involving a red whole body rash.

British Columbia is currently in the grips of a large outbreak, with at least 375 cases so far, while Alberta has confirmed close to a dozen cases.

Health officials in Manitoba confirmed two new cases of the disease on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases there to seven.

On Friday, officials expanded the list of businesses on a Winnipeg street where people may have been exposed to measles, and said people who attended a bull-riding event at the MTS Centre last Wednesday may have been exposed.

Most people who catch it survive, but between one and three cases per 1,000 can be fatal.