Measles outbreak needs more than just information

Here in Manitoba, spring break is almost upon us. Coupled, as it tends to be, with the changing of seasons, it’s a time filled with anticipation and hope.

Some families look forward to a late-winter escape — a ski trip, perhaps, or a brief warm-weather getaway. Others merely enjoy a well-earned respite, a temporary but still-close-to-home change of scenery and a chance to rest, recharge and reconnect with friends and relations.

What the Manitoba government has its sights set on, however, is a decidedly more dire spring-break development: the potential for the March 30-April 3 academic recess to create a “superspreader” event in the province that already has the dubious distinction of leading Canada’s current and prolonged measles outbreak.

So pronounced is Manitoba Health’s concern that it provided a warning letter for school divisions to distribute to parents throughout the province, urging them to consider the risks of contracting or spreading measles while travelling or attending large gatherings during spring break or any of the concurrent religious celebrations on the seasonal calendar.

The physician charged with leading Manitoba’s measles-outbreak response, Dr. Davinder Singh, pointed to a surge in cases that occurred in January, following the gatherings-filled holiday season, and suggested a similar pattern will likely be repeated in the weeks following spring break.

“It’s reasonable to expect we could see an increase in cases in two to three weeks after some of these major gatherings have occurred,” he said.

The numbers underpinning the province’s warning are, quite frankly, appalling. As of March 14, Manitoba has had the highest number of measles cases in Canada this year — 319 confirmed and another 45 probable infections. By comparison, this province recorded 319 confirmed and 29 probable cases during the entirety of 2025.

According to the latest federal surveillance report (up to March 7), Manitoba has accounted for almost 63 per cent of this year’s confirmed measles cases in Canada.

All of this, of course, relates to a dangerous and potentially deadly disease that is widely considered to be the most contagious virus known to humans, but is also a disease which — thanks to the development and mandated distribution of an effective vaccine, was effectively eradicated in Canada by 1998.

Owing to increasing vaccine skepticism fuelled by online misinformation and a growing population of parents — particularly in the province’s Southern Health region — who have declined to have their children vaccinated, an outbreak that began in 2024 has taken hold across Canada and flourished in certain parts of Manitoba, resulting in this country having its “measles-free” designation revoked last November by the Pan American Health Organization.

The danger certainly exists for a surge in cases following a period of increased social interaction, so the province’s cautionary letter is well-timed. One can’t help wondering, however, if yet another government-issued warning is anywhere near a sufficient response, given Manitoba’s current contagious-disease predicament.

As one correspondent to this page’s letters section succinctly put it earlier this week, “Witnessing officials repeatedly wringing their hands and ineffectually wagging their fingers — as if they were not the very people with the power to actually formulate and implement public-health measures — is getting old.”

While it’s clear governments here and elsewhere are reluctant to impose mandates and strict measures in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns and the backlash they inspired, there’s no arguing the measles situation in Manitoba is now fully out of control.

The province should be applauded for informing Manitobans of the public-health perils that await, but perhaps it’s time to consider what sorts of actions could address the dangers, rather than just describing it.