York Region’s medical officer of health says a man infected with measles had “close contacts” among students and teachers at a high school north of Toronto.

Dr. Barry Pakes says more than 1,500 students and 150 staff members at an unidentified school in York Region were notified last week that they may have been exposed to a positive case of measles.

The case is a man in his 30s who has not travelled recently or been in contact with anyone ill.

Pakes says the potentially exposed students and staff were invited to an immunization clinic on Sunday and he described the turnout as excellent.

Pakes says the school has a measles vaccination rate of more than 95 per cent.

Students who don’t have proof of having received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are not being allowed to return to school until March 15, or until they can provide evidence of immunization or laboratory confirmed measles infection.

Public Health Ontario has so far confirmed five cases of measles in the province and said that all but one involved travel.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2024. 

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