Travel Manitoba says it’s business as usual despite warning issued by U.S. agency

Travel Manitoba says it has received no questions or concerns from American tourists about a recent U.S. travel alert concerning the hepatitis A outbreak in Manitoba.

“We’re not getting any messages on our social media,” Louise Waldman, vice-president of communications for the Crown corporation said Wednesday. “Obviously, it’s something that we’re going to keep watching and we want to keep an eye on.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on June 4 issued a Level 1 notice advising travellers to Manitoba to “ensure that you are vaccinated,” practise good hand hygiene, avoid sharing syringes and practise safe sex to avoid getting the vaccine-preventable liver infection.

As of June 4, there were 784 reported cases of hepatitis A in Manitoba, including 186 in Winnipeg, the province reported this week. There have been 165 hospitalizations, eight admissions to intensive-care units and four deaths since the outbreak was first reported in April 2025.

The CDC travel advisory for Manitoba was reported online Monday by the U.S. edition of the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which attracts 35.2 million monthly visits from U.S. readers, according to May 2026 data from Comscore, an American media measurement and analytics company.

“We’re very confident that people from across the United States, and especially in those target markets, continue to see us as a safe and welcoming place that they really want to visit, which we love,” Waldman said.

Travel Manitoba targets Texas, Illinois and California, which have large populations who are attracted to Manitoba’s fishing and its nature and wildlife — “like Churchill polar bears and belugas and northern lights,” Waldman said.

“All of those things continue to be extremely appealing to the U.S.”

Waldman noted that the CDC — which ranks travel notices from Level 1 “practise the usual precautions” to Level 4 “avoid all travel” — issued its lowest-level travel alert for Manitoba.

“(It) just says there are cases of hep A in the province but in no way does it discourage Americans from travelling here,” she said. “Instead it encourages them to take standard precautions — procedures which include everything from vaccination to proper hygiene,” she said.

“The main thing from our perspective — as the provincial agency that tries to drive visitation from the U.S., across Canada and around the world — is Manitoba is a safe and welcoming destination…This advisory in no way changes that.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the province continues to take numerous steps to address the hepatitis A outbreak, including making vaccines more accessible, but respects the CDC’s right to issue a Manitoba travel advisory.

“I think what it says to us is that we need to continue doing the hard work that we are doing on the ground to reach people, get them the tools, the education and information they need to make the most healthy and informed decisions they can for themselves, their loved ones and communities,” the minister said Wednesday.

“I think it also says that these are concerns that are not specific only to Manitoba,” Asagwara said. “As a country, we have to do much more to make sure that people have access to the education, information and the health care they need to keep themselves safe and healthy.”

Doctors Manitoba said the CDC travel advisory is a reminder to everyone in Manitoba that there is a hepatitis A outbreak in the province.

“It is important to follow public health advice, particularly in communities where the outbreak is active,” a spokesperson for the advocacy organization for Manitoba physicians said.

“This is a reminder to take personal precautions like hand washing and if you live or work in a higher risk community, to talk to your doctor or health provider about the hepatitis A vaccine that is available.”

— With files from Morgan Modjeski

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca