Health committee told more work is needed, but gave nod to health care workers for their efforts
An update to the Niagara region's public health committee on how last year's measles outbreak was handled.
Infectious disease managers told the committee that outbreak started the previous year due to someone travelling from New Brunswick.
Team Lead Sandra Jacobs says more needs to be done to track this contagious disease. "In 2025, Niagara reported 13 of the 2,376 outbreak related cases in the province. In total, however, Niagara also managed 94 possible cases, in over 250 contacts."
They add the best defense is to make sure immunization is kept up.
Manager of Infectious disease Rachel McBride pointed to how health care workers stepped up. "In total, redeployed staff contributed 287 hours of work, in addition to the efforts of our baseline team of 8 public health nurses, in the infectious disease program. Because measles response often extends beyond regular business hours, staff also worked 141 overtime hours."
They add immunization of children is 87%.
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