Kimie is one of more than 3,800 in Canada who have been infected with measles in 2025, most of them children and infants. That figure is nearly three times higher than the number of confirmed US cases, despite Canada’s far smaller population.
Now Canada is the only western country listed among the top 10 with measles outbreaks, according to CDC data, ranking at number eight. Alberta, the province at the epicentre of the current outbreak, has the highest per capita measles spread rate in North America.
The data raises questions on why the virus is spreading more rapidly in Canada than in the US, and whether Canadian health authorities are doing enough to contain it.
The hardest-hit provinces have been Ontario and Alberta, followed by Manitoba.
In Ontario, health authorities say the outbreak began in late 2024, when an individual contracted measles at a large Mennonite gathering in New Brunswick and then returned home.
Mennonites are a Christian group with roots in 16th-Century Germany and Holland, who have since settled in other parts of the world, including Canada, Mexico and the US.
Some live modern lifestyles, while conservative groups lead simpler lives, limiting the use of technology and relying on modern medicine only when necessary.
Ms Friesen noted that Canada has a higher concentration of conservative Low German-speaking Mennonites than the US, which may be a factor behind the higher number of cases.
kagis
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8d39gdr0o