Canada has lost its status as a country where smallpox has been eliminated, as it fails to control an epidemic that broke out a year ago, the national public health service said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
Last month, health experts predicted that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) would revoke the country's status, which it had enjoyed for nearly 30 years.
More than 5,000 measles cases have been reported in nine of Canada's 10 provinces and one northern territory.
“Although the spread of the virus has recently slowed, the epidemic has been ongoing for more than 12 months, mainly in communities with insufficient vaccination rates people“, the agency said in a statement.
“PASO has notified Health Canada that it no longer has the status of a country in which the virus has been eliminated“, the Canadian agency added, indicating that they will focus on vaccinating more people, strengthening data sharing and implementing better surveillance methods.
Health experts say that falling vaccination rates in some parts of the country are causing a potential increase in the number of vaccine-preventable diseases, with this decline being driven by growing skepticism and distrust of vaccines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters recalls.
The office of federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel declined to comment.