Prime Highlights:
- Over 1,314 cases of measles are occurring in Alberta alone, greater than the total for the U.S. in 2025.
- Vaccination has to be done as an emergency priority within increasing outbreaks, according to health officials.
Key Facts:
- Alberta outbreaks occur in rural areas with low rates of vaccination.
- The U.S. and Mexico also see growing infection with measles in the same regions.
Key Background
At a startling rate, as of yet Alberta has reported more than 1,314 confirmed measles cases in 2025—three times the number of reported cases throughout all of the United States. The majority of the disease is being spread by undervaccinated population outbreaks, most notably within the traditional Mennonite community of southern Alberta.
The measles outbreak had originally begun in Alberta but now reached over the international border and infected the bordering U.S. states and the north of Mexico. Though America has so far contributed to 1,288 cases distributed in 14 states, the numbers continue to rise, especially in regions with low immunization coverage. Texas is the worst affected with over 750 cases and three children’s deaths reported. The identical transmission patterns are beginning to emerge in Mexican states with poor health access and less-than-optimal vaccine coverage.
It has been associated by researchers with declining vaccination rates. In the United States and Canada, the rate of children vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) fell below the 95% threshold of herd immunity needed to prevent outbreaks. Rural Alberta municipalities are clusters of uncontrolled transmission where vaccine hesitancy is high.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease, spread through coughing and sneezing. The signs of the disease include fever, cough, runny nose, and rash. The outcome is pneumonia, encephalitis, and death in the case of infants and immunocompromised individuals. Prevention through vaccination is the only cure. The two-dose MMR vaccine is approximately 97% effective in precluding the disease.
North American health officials are calling for rapid action to boost vaccine coverage and prevent further transmission. Alberta outbreak is a sobering reminder that falling behind on immunization can retroactively erase decades of public health progress.
