Canada sees surge in measles as cases rise across North America

Canada has now recorded 4206 cases of measles infections this year, the highest number so far of any nation in the western hemisphere, which is seeing a surge in cases.

After recording its first death from measles this year in June, Canada has become a growing epicentre for cases of the disease in Central and North America, with experts attributing the rise to falling vaccination coverage. Canada has documented three times as many infections in 2025 as the US—which is similarly seeing a record number of cases—and more than in the previous 25 years combined.

Some health experts have become so concerned that they are calling for a public health emergency to be declared in the province of Alberta, a hotspot where more than 1600 cases have been reported.1 “Our performance is so bad that we have more cases in a population of five million than the United States has in a population …