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B.C. measles outbreak infects Washington state resident

A nurse uses a syringe to prepare an injection of the combined Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination. GEOFF CADDICK/AFP/Getty Images

WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. – A U.S. health officer has confirmed that an American resident contracted measles while in B.C.

Greg Stern of the Whatcom County Health Department says the patient is isolated at home in Whatcom.

Fraser Health Authority confirmed there were 228 cases of measles in B.C.’s eastern Fraser Valley last week.

The outbreak was first declared March 8 in a region east of Vancouver where immunization rates were low in school and religious groups.

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The health authority then warned the virus was spreading and confirmed over two weeks ago that a student from BCIT in Burnaby, B.C., was infected.

Fraser Health says it has also been working with schools, community groups, churches and medical officials to control the virus and it has set up dedicated immunization clinics.

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WATCH: Dr. Jennifer Gardy, senior scientist for the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, explains how diseases previously believed to have been eliminated – like Measles – are making a comeback.

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