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Montreal health authorities moving to contain measles spread after two new cases

Montreal health authorities have launched a public appeal in an attempt to curb a possible outbreak of measles.

The city’s public health director says hundreds of people could have been exposed between May 11 and May 14, and officials have posted specific locations and times where an infected person was during that time.

The locations include a school, a restaurant, a bank, an esthetician, a hotel and a daycare centre.

Since the beginning of the year, seven cases of measles have been reported in Montreal, but the first five involved exposure to the disease outside country.

Authorities say this time, two secondary cases were identified in which people contracted the disease after coming into contact with someone infected outside the country.

One involves a family member of a child who was infected outside the country and the situation was controlled by isolating the family for the necessary time period. 

The second case involves a member of the health care staff who treated the child. While the worker was vaccinated against measles, authorities said it was one of the rare cases where the vaccine didn’t provide the expected immunity.

Dr. Mylene Drouin, director of Montreal’s public health authority, is urging people to pay close attention to the dates, times and locations posted on the authority’s website to determine if they were exposed and said they should seek treatment if they were.

A complete list of locations and times was posted Thursday to the city’s public health department website:

https://santemontreal.qc.ca/en/public/news/news/translate-to-english-avis-a-la-population-la-direction-de-sante-publique-de-montreal-recherche/

The Canadian Press