Passengers on a second flight from Beijing to Vancouver may be at risk of contracting measles. A person diagnosed with measles over the weekend exposed people on Air China/Air Canada Flight #CA 991/AC 6601 arriving at Vancouver International Airport at 12:15 PM on Saturday, April 4.

Canada
Image/Perry-Castañeda Library

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is asking anyone who was on this flight and is not up to date with their immunizations, to get a measles vaccination as soon as possible. Measles vaccine is available from family doctors, public health units or walk-in clinics.

Related: Vancouver: Measles detected in Burnaby, linked to Beijing flight

On the other side of the country, Quebec health officials are reporting an additional measles case in Lanaudiere region, bringing the total to 159.

Measles is highly contagious and can be a very serious illness. While most people fully recover from measles within 2 to 3 weeks, measles can sometimes cause serious health problems. These could include brain swelling (encephalitis) leading to seizures, hearing loss or even death. Since there is no cure, prevention is very important and the measles vaccine is known to be a safe and effective way to prevent measles.

Measles is relatively rare in Canada thanks to high immunization rates across the country. However, Canada will continue to see measles cases related to travel to countries where measles is endemic or there are large outbreaks.