With all the news about measles in the United States, we tend to forget about our neighbors to the north and their battle with the vaccine-preventable disease.

Canada
Image/Perry-Castañeda Library

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts the country total at 159 people from 18 states and the District of Columbia to April 10, the Lanaudiere region of Quebec, Canada has reported 159 confirmed cases alone as of April 14.

According to Public Health Canada, 183 measles cases have been reported in 2015, including cases in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.

To date in 2015, 43 measles cases have been genotyped and the genotypes were: B3 (n=20), D4 (n=17), H1 (n=4) and D8 (n=2), health officials note.

From Quebec, 20 cases were genotyped and were genotype B3, identical to the virus reported in a multi-state outbreak in the United States.

Four cases from British Columbia were genotype H1 which is endemic in China, consistent with travel and exposure history for these cases.