On March 26th, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit was notified by Public Health Ontario’s (PHO) laboratory that due to laboratory error, the measles case the lab had confirmed as a positive result on March 12th, is in fact negative for the measles virus.
With this new information. the health unit believes that that individual was not infected with measles and that there has not been exposure to measles resulting from this individual’s illness.
“We are aware that public notification of the case on March 12 may have created worry, anxiety and disruption for some, and we acknowledge and regret this,” states a press release from the health unit. “Unfortunately, we do know that, despite best efforts, on rare occasions lab errors can occur. We are working closely with PHO’s laboratory to do all that we can to ensure that such an incident does not occur again.”
“Although we are relieved that this case has now been lab-confirmed as negative, measles is still active in Ontario at this time and the potential remains for new cases to arise, especially given the increase in Ontarians travelling to areas in the world that have higher numbers of measles cases. Measles is a very contagious airborne virus that spreads easily from an infected person when they breathe, talk, cough or sneeze. Measles virus can live up to two hours in the air after an infected person leaves the area. It can quickly spread among people who are unvaccinated. Vaccination offers excellent protection against measles, and we advise individuals to keep up to date with their routine immunizations, including measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.”