Measles jumps borders in North America with outbreaks in Canada, Mexico
and US
[May 02, 2025]
By DEVI SHASTRI and MEGAN JANETSKY
Dr. Hector Ocaranza knew El Paso would see measles the moment it began
spreading in West Texas and eastern New Mexico.
Highways connect his border city with the epicenter of Texas' massive
outbreak, which is up to 663 cases. They're the same roads used by
thousands of families and commercial truckers who cross into Mexico and
back each day.
“Diseases know no borders," said Ocaranza, El Paso's top public health
doctor, "so as people are mobile, they're going to be coming and
receiving medical attention in El Paso but they may be living in
Juarez.” It took a couple of months, but El Paso now has the highest
measles case count in the state outside of West Texas with 38.
Neighboring Ciudad Juarez has 14 cases as of Monday.
North America's three biggest measles outbreaks continue to balloon,
with more than 2,500 known cases; three people have died in the U.S. and
one in Mexico. It started in the fall in Ontario, Canada; then took off
in late January in Texas and New Mexico; and has rapidly spread in
Chihuahua state, which is up to 786 cases since mid-February.
These outbreaks are in areas with a notable population of certain
Mennonite Christian communities who trace their migration over
generations from Canada to Mexico to Seminole, Texas. Chihuahua health
officials trace their first case to an 8-year-old Mennonite child who
visited family in Seminole, got sick and spread the virus at school. And
Ontario officials say their outbreak started at a large gathering in New
Brunswick involving Mennonite communities.
Mexican and U.S. officials also say the genetic strains of measles
spreading in Canada match the other large outbreaks.
“This virus was imported, traveling country to country,” said Leticia
Ruíz, director of prevention and disease control in Chihuahua.
North and South American countries have struggled to maintain the 95%
measles vaccination rate needed to prevent outbreaks, said Dr. Jarbas
Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization. And a recent
World Health Organization report said measles activity in the Americas
region is up elevenfold from the same time last year and that the risk
level is “high” compared to the rest of the world's “moderate” level.
Measles cases have been confirmed in six of the region’s countries —
Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Mexico — and
investigating the disease's spread is labor-intensive and pricey. The
response to each measles case in the U.S. costs an estimated $30,000 to
$50,000, according to Dr. David Sugerman, a U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention scientist.
Measles at the U.S.-Mexico border
The cases in Ciudad Juarez have no direct connection to the Mennonite
settlement in Chihuahua, said Rogelio Covarrubias, a health official in
the border city. The first measles case in El Paso was in a child at
Fort Bliss, Ocaranza said.
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A health worker gives a child a measles vaccine at the health center
in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, Wednesday, April 30,
2025. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
 More than half of El Paso's cases
are in adults, which is unusually high, and three people have been
hospitalized. The health department is holding vaccination clinics
in malls and parks and says hundreds have gotten a shot. The
vaccines are free — no questions asked, no matter which side of the
border you live on.
Communication about measles between the two health departments is
“informal” but “very good,” Ocaranza said. Covarrubias said his team
was alerted last week to a case of someone who became sick in El
Paso and returned home to Juarez.
“There is constant concern in Ciudad Juarez … because we have
travelers that pass through from across the world,” Covarrubias
said. “With a possible case of measles without taking precautions,
many, many people could be infected.”
Measles at the U.S.-Canada border
Michigan health officials said the outbreak of four cases in
Montcalm County are linked to Ontario.
The state's chief medical executive, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian,
expects to see more cases. Michigan has a 95% vaccination rate for
measles, mumps and rubella, but it hides weak spots — counties with
70% vaccination rates and individual schools where just 30% of kids
vaccinated.
“If we think about measles as a forest fire, we've got these burning
embers that are floating in the air right now," Bagdasarian said.
"Whether those embers result in another wildfire just depends on
where they land.”
In Canada, six out of 10 provinces have reported measles cases.
Alberta has the second-most with 83 as of April 12, according to
government data.
Case counts in Ontario reached 1,020 as of Wednesday, mostly in the
southwest part that borders Michigan. In one of the hardest-hit
regions, Chatham-Kent Public Health officials announced a public
exposure at a Mennonite church on Easter Sunday.
“It sometimes feels like we're just behind, always trying to catch
up to measles,” Dr. Sarah Wilson, a public health physician for
Public Health Ontario. “It's always moving somewhere."
___
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Shastri reported from Milwaukee.
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