South zone measles cases drop for first time

Southern Alberta Newspapers

This week’s measles count showed that the virus is at work in the north zone population. As of June 27 at noon, Alberta Health had recorded 1,102 cases of the virus, with 20 communicable and active cases at the time of the report.

The weekly report divides the province into five zones: north, central, south, Edmonton, and Calgary. The north zone outpaced the south for the first time with 13 new cases for the week and 262 total this season. Here in the south zone, Alberta Health tracked only three new cases for a total of 722 to date, and the central zone and Edmonton had zero new cases with a combined 123 so far. Calgary remained unscathed, with zero active cases and only 23 total reported to this point.

In the under-five category, 329 children have been hit; in the ages five to 17 range, 497 cases have been tracked. Among the 18 to 54 population, 291 people have been infected. Those over 55 remain basically untouched, with only five known instances of individuals contracting the virus. No senior reported a single new infection in the past week. Provincewide, three people are currently hospitalized in a non-ICU setting.