Duggan said the province doesn’t have a high enough vaccination rate to prevent measles from circulating - a rate that is ideally above 95 per cent. She said even in urban centres like Edmonton and Calgary the rate is only at around 70 per cent, and there are pockets of the province that are at 50 per cent or lower.

“(If) someone has been in a room who is infectious, that room is still infectious for two hours right after they leave. So even if you’re a mathematician and have no medical training, those numbers should frighten you,” said Duggan.

She noted that those who suffer most are children under the age of five.

“We are seeing an increase in immunizations for measles – for example, between the weeks of March 16 and April 13, 27,094 vaccines have been administered, an increase of almost 66 per cent from the previous time period last year.”