Health officials urge vaccination as Northern Health reports 8 active measles cases

The highly contagious disease, measles, is continuing to spread across northeastern B.C. 

The Northern Health region is experiencing eight reported and active cases of measles. Of the 49 reported cases of measles across the province in 2025, 33 were in Northern Health. 

According to Jong Kim, Chief Medical Health Officer at Northern Health, the agency is monitoring the situation in the northeast closely as measles continues to resurge across Canada. 

“In terms of the communities affected, we are seeing mostly that the cases have some linkage with that initial clusters we’ve seen that are under-immunized communities in the northeast” Kim said. 

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says 10 per cent of people who get measles are hospitalized. Health officials recommend the measles vaccine to mitigate this risk. 

“The key advice to people in the community is to know and check your susceptibility,” Kim said.  

People born before 1970 may have natural immunity to measles – however, Kim cautioned people who are born after 1970 should confirm that they are immunized. Those who are not should contact their healthcare provider. 

Kim said the illness is especially brutal towards newborns and babies, who are not yet eligible for immunization.  

The Canadian Immunization Guide recommends the first dose of the vaccine to be administered to toddlers who are 12-15 months old – the timing of the second dose varies. 

Anyone who believes they are showing symptoms of the disease, and were exposed at some point, should seek medical attention.  

“Our advice that if your exposure is relatively close, like just within the last few days, to connect with your health unit and get checked with your primary care provider … so we can support assisting you and potentially providing immunization as a post-exposure protective measure,” Kim explained. 

The Centre for Disease Control requests patients call the clinic they intend on visiting for testing – as precautions must be taken to control the spread of the contagious disease. 

–Files by Tavi Dhillon, My Peace Region Now