New measles cases increase for third week in northern Ontario public health unit – CTV
June 19, 2025
TORONTO — A northern Ontario region that saw its first measles infection in April is now seeing dozens of new cases for the third week in a row.
Public Health Ontario is reporting 96 new measles cases in the province over the past week, bringing the total number to 2,179 since an outbreak began in October.
Thirty-four of the new infections are in Algoma Public Health, which includes Sault Ste. Marie. Last week, it had 28 new infections, which have been rising since April 23 when it reported its first case this year.
That raises the northern health unit’s count to 115 and includes three hospitalizations.
Dr. John Tuinema, Algoma’s associate medical officer of health, says this uptick was expected.
“Our first case happened a couple months after a lot of what happened in Southwestern Ontario, so I would say that we are in a similar place that they would have been a few months prior,” says Tuinema.
But Tuinema says his northern region likely won’t reach the number seen in southwestern Ontario because of a high vaccination rate and small population size.
