Canada loses measles elimination status, causing entire region to lose designation - Medicine Hat News

TORONTO -- Canada has officially lost the measles elimination status it had held since 1998, causing the entire region of the Americas to also lose the designation. The status is granted and revoked by the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization's office for countries in North and South America. It said Monday Canada could no longer consider itself measles-free after confirming ongoing transmission of the same strain of measles for more than one year That means all of the Americas has lost the status as well, PAHO director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa said at a news conference. "If only one country in our region loses the status, the region loses the status together with the country. But all the other 34 countries, they are still measles-free," Barbosa said, distinguishing the regional status from that of individual countries. But the region only regained measles-free status last year after Venezuela and Brazil contained their outbreaks. Those countries lost elimination in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Venezuela recovered through a strong and continuous surveillance program that detected and contained cases before they sprawled, Dr. Daniel Salas, PAHO's executive manager, Special Program for Comprehensive Immunization, said at the news conference. Salas also said Brazil identified exactly where there were unvaccinated children and targeted those pockets. Similarly, Salas said Canada will need to focus on