Fraser Health says two new travel-related measles cases are connected to another case confirmed earlier in the week.
A public service announcement Friday (March 7) said two new cases were confirmed in the Lower Mainland this week, which are both related to another case that was confirmed on Thursday.
Fraser Health says all three cases were acquired by Fraser Health residents who had travelled abroad to Southeast Asia in the same travel party. However, the three cases are unrelated to two other cases 鈥� one in Fraser Health and one in Vancouver Coastal Health 鈥� identified in February.
The health authority is warning people they could have been exposed to measles if they were in the following locations:
鈥� Flight KE 75 from Seoul, South Korea to Vancouver on Feb. 17, departing at 10:50 p.m. and arriving at 3:20 p.m.
鈥� Vancouver International Airport from 3:20 to 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 17
鈥� Pricesmart (9899 Austin Rd., Burnaby) from 9 to 11:20 a.m. on Feb. 20
鈥� Pricesmart (9899 Austin Rd., Burnaby) from 9 to 11:20 a.m. on Feb. 21
鈥� Big Way Hot Pot (2660-2929 Barnet Hwy., Coquitlam) from 7 to 11 p.m. on Feb. 28
鈥� Royal Columbian Hospital emergency department in New Westminster from 2:30 p.m. on March 3 to 2:30 a.m. on March 4
Measles in a highly infectious disease transmitted by airborne spread. It can cause encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, which can lead to seizures, deafness, or brain damage, and one out of every 3,000 people with measles may die from complications.
However, most people in Canada will be immune to measles either due to prior immunization or previous infection.
Symptoms, which can develop up to three weeks after being exposed, include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed a few days later by a rash that usually starts on the face and spreads rapidly down the rest of the body.
The first case, which was in the Fraser Health region, was confirmed on Feb. 15, and the second case 鈥� in the Vancouver Coastal Health region 鈥� was confirmed on Feb. 19. Those two cases were also travel related and connected to each other.
