Health experts remain vigilant of measles spread as Australia watches Canada lose measles elimination status

Australian health experts are watching Canada with caution after the country lost its measles elimination status this week. The Public Health Agency of Canada released a statement on Monday local time confirming that after 12 months of sustained spread of the highly infectious virus, the country “no longer holds measles elimination status”. Canada has so far recorded more than 5100 cases of measles in 2025. The outbreak that triggered the loss of its elimination status began in October 2024, when a returned overseas traveller from the province of New Brunswick contracted the virus. Since then, 98 per cent of cases have been locally acquired. That sustained transmission is cause for concern in countries that have eliminated the disease. The World Health Organisation sets the parameters for measles elimination, and each country has a national verification committee to monitor its progress. Perth Children’s Hospital paediatrician and infectious diseases specialist Professor Asha Bowen is an expert member on Australia’s national verification committee. She said while Australia is fortunately far from cases in the thousands like Canada — Australia has so far recorded 153 cases this year — we should still be alert to what’s happening in the northern hemisphere. “We’re at a completely different scale — much, much lower than what we’re seeing in Canada,” Professor Bowen said. “We keep seeing introduction of measles into Australia from overseas travellers, but we don’t have sustained transmission.” The infectious diseases expert said Australian public health units are “incredibly responsive” to confirmed measles cases. “We have a very active program to maintain Australia’s elimination status,” Professor Bowen said. Maintaining that status requires defence on several fronts, one of which includes strong immunisation uptake. “Vaccines have been available for decades in WA, we know we need to have vaccine levels above 95 per cent,” she said. “We’re below that in WA at the moment, and that is a risk to us.” Nationally, 91.4 per cent of two-year-old’s have two doses of a measles-containing vaccine. In WA, it’s even lower at 89.8 per cent — the worst in the country. Despite slipping vaccination rates, Professor Bowen said WA’s infectious disease notification system works “very effectively”. “If we were having more cases popping up with no link to an exposure site, a returned traveller or an epidemiological link, we would have greater cause for concern,” she said. “There are a lot of things that are working for us, so we’re not at that risk level (like Canada). “I’m confident we’re not close yet, but we should be alert.” Dozens of WA cases have been linked to returned overseas travellers, predominantly Indonesia, prompting health authorities to urge people to check their jab status. As an airborne and droplet-spread virus, measles is highly transmissible. One infected person can infect up to 18 unprotected people. Comparatively, COVID-19 could infect up to two non-immune people. Canada can re-establish its elimination status after the strain associated with its current outbreak is interrupted for at least 12 months.