Although Quebec reported its last measles outbreak nearly eight months ago and now has one of the lowest incidence rates of the highly contagious illness in Canada, that’s no reason to stay complacent, the province’s chief public health officer warned in an interview with The Gazette on Tuesday.

To date, Quebec has reported 36 cases of the measles this year, compared with 2,393 in Ontario and 1,946 in Alberta. On Monday, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced the country had lost its coveted measles elimination status — a designation it had earned in 1998. The loss of that status came after the Pan American Health Organization “reviewed recent epidemiological and laboratory data, confirming sustained transmission of the same measles virus strain in Canada for a period of more than o

See Full Page