Article content

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has confirmed a case of measles in Yorkton and is alerting those who may have been exposed to the highly infectious disease.

The infected patient is an infant who contracted the virus overseas, prior to landing at Regina International Airport on June 9. According to Dr. Mark Vooght, medical health officer for Moose Jaw with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), the child’s family went straight to the emergency room at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre from the airport.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or SHA confirms measles case in Yorkton infant who flew through Regina Back to video

The case was confirmed as measles late Tuesday evening, and further testing made the diagnosis definitive as of Wednesday night. The child was too young to have received the vaccination ordinarily given at 12 and 18 months, according to Vooght.

Measles is an airborne virus and Vooght stressed it’s a “very contagious organism.” Although Saskatchewan’s immunization rates are fairly high, he said there is still some risk of a wider outbreak. The risk is greatest for infants less than one year old, pregnant women and immuno-suppressed people, as well as those who have never been immunized against measles.