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Health officials have confirmed eight cases of measles in Vancouver, which he calls an epidemic.
The cases concern a French-language high school, Jules Verne High School in Vancouver, said Dr. Althea Hayden, medical officer of health at Vancouver Coastal Health, in an update Friday.
"Cases are happening in staff, students, and family members affiliated with this school," Hayden said. "We determined that measles had been introduced into this community by trips to outside North America."
People connected to two other schools, the Anne-Hebert and Rose-Des-Vents elementary schools, are among the eight.
These cases are unrelated to the first case reported in Vancouver, she said, of a man who traveled to the Philippines.
One person went to BC Children's Hospital when it was contagious, said Hayden, and officials were not able to warn anyone who may have been exposed.
An outbreak is defined as an increase in the number of cases that public servants expect to see at some point in the year.
"The best thing people can do to protect themselves is to make sure their vaccines are up to date," she said, adding that people vaccinated with an incomplete vaccine or having no vaccines vaccine were at high risk.
Measles is highly contagious and spreads easily in the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. The virus can survive in small droplets in the air for several hours.
Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and red, inflamed eyes, usually appearing seven to 14 days after the initial exposure. These are followed three to seven days later by a rash that lasts for at least three days.
A measles outbreak in the state of Washington and Oregon this winter has already sickened 56 people.
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