British Columbia Premier David Eby says the growing spread of measles across Canada is "the sadly predictable outcome" of the "recklessness" of anti-vaccination politicians.
Eby says the disease is "no joke," given the potentially serious impact on those infected, and it's preventable with two vaccine shots.
He told a Vancouver news conference that the focus for provincial public health authorities now is to make sure that people who are not protected receive full vaccination.
The premier's response comes after Fraser Health said this week that three residents in Chilliwack have been confirmed as being infected and all appear to have contracted the disease locally since they have not recently travelled.
Health authorities elsewhere in the province have also reported cases in Kamloops and the community of Wonowon in northeastern B.C., northwest of Fort St. John.
Ontario reported its first death in the measles outbreak on June 5 when a premature baby died after being infected in the womb of its unvaccinated mother.
Thousands in Ontario have been infected since October, while Alberta's government said last week that it has also surpassed a thousand confirmed measles cases, most of them in children age five to 17.
Health Canada says measles was eliminated in the country in 1998, and the spike in Alberta has been the most severe in almost 40 years.
"This is the sadly predictable outcome of some recklessness, frankly, on the parts of some politicians in terms of questioning vaccine safety and ensuring that people are supported in accessing vaccines," Eby said without naming people or provinces.
"I will encourage all British Columbians to ensure that they are vaccinated. Measles is no joke. It kills kids. It's a preventable disease, and we don't want that to be the story of the summer for our province."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
