Cluster of new Ontario measles cases mostly in Sudbury area

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A northeastern Ontario region that saw its first measles infection this summer is now reporting dozens of new cases.

Public Health Ontario is reporting 40 new cases in the Sudbury area’s public health unit, which also covers Chapleau and Manitoulin Island.

That accounts for most of the province’s 54 new cases for the week of July 22 to 29, and brings the total number to 2,352 since an outbreak began in October.

On July 22, the Sudbury public health unit reported its first case of measles since 2014 in an infant too young to be vaccinated against the highly contagious disease.

Last Friday, the public health unit said its investigation into that first case led to discovering that measles was actually introduced to the area seven weeks earlier and infected a cluster of 39 people.

The previously undetected cluster of measles cases was linked to several private gatherings, and led to exposures at public locations.

Health officials say the majority of the infections reported the previous week have resolved.

Dr. M. Mustafa Hirji, the region’s acting medical officer of health, said in a statement last week that local cases are predominantly in unvaccinated individuals.