Potential Measles Exposure Advisory

Press Release

Potential Measles Exposure at Vancouver International Airport on November 23

The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is alerting the public about a passenger with measles who is known to have travelled through Vancouver International Airport on Nov. 23.

You can read about the details of this potential exposure at the BCCDC website.

What this means for you:

Additional Measles cases may develop in BC from this exposure.

Please review your immunization histories and make sure you and your family are up to date for your MMR vaccines. Two doses of a measles vaccine (i.e. MMR or MMRV) are recommended.

If you need additional vaccine, call your community health nurse.

Please also watch for symptoms of measles:

• Fever
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Red eyes
• Rash, which starts first on the face and neck, and spreads to the chest, arms and legs. The rash lasts about 4 to 7 days.

If you become sick and suspect you may have measles, speak to your primary health care provider over the phone and inform them that you may be infectious.

• Call before you go to a clinic. This will help the staff to minimize possible exposure to additional people in the clinic.
• Isolate until you have further instructions from a health care provider (this will also minimize spreading measles to other people.

You can also call your local health unit and ask for the communicable disease nurse or call HealthLinkBC at 8-1-1 free-of-charge. ​

IHT4