Case of measles at Calgary Shoppers Drug Mart prompts warning

Alberta Health Services issued an alert on Tuesday due to a confirmed case of measles in Calgary.

It’s believed a person with the infection was at the Shoppers Drug Mart at 198-8060 Silver Springs Blvd. N.W. on Sunday.

AHS said anyone who was there between 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. may have been exposed.

Health officials are asking anyone who meets the following to call Health Link at 811:

• People who were at that Shoppers Drug Mart; and
• who were born after 1970; and
• who have not already had measles disease or have not received two doses of the measles vaccine.

“Unfortunately, we do not know how many people were exposed at the Shoppers location and that’s why we’re asking people to self-identify,” AHS spokesperson Shannon Evans said.

AHS will also be directly contacting additional people who were exposed.

“Other exposure settings were at the individual’s place of work and a physician’s office, but these other settings are not a risk to general public,” Evans said.

Anyone exposed to measles is asked to monitor themselves for symptoms.

If symptoms develop, people are advised to stay home and call Health Link at 811 before visiting any health-care facility.

Symptoms of measles include:

• Fever of 38.3° C or higher
• Cough, runny nose and/or red eyes
• A red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down to the body and then to the arms and legs

According to AHS records, this is the first case of measles in Calgary since 2014.