Alberta Health Services has issued a public warning about possible exposures to a confirmed case of measles in the Calgary area.

AHS said the person visited locations in Calgary, Banff and Canmore between April 6 and April 11 while they were potentially contagious.

The locations visited include:

• Save-On-Foods at 950 Railway Avenue in Canmore on April 6th, between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m.;
• Delmar College of Hair and Esthetics at 5915 – 1a Street S.W. in Calgary on April 7th to 10th, between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.;
• Banff – Lux Cinema at 229 Bear Street in Banff on April 11th, between 4 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.; and,
• Bow Valley Five Pin and Pints at the Fairmont Banff Springs at 405 Spray Avenue in Banff on April 11th, between 6:30pm and 11 p.m.

Provincial health officials are warning Albertans who attended any of the locations at the same time, who were born in 1970 or had fewer than two doses of the measles vaccine are at risk of contracting the highly-contagious virus.

Those most at risk of experiencing serious complications or outcomes include anyone with a weakened immune system, anyone who is pregnant and children under two years of age.

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In an update on the province’s measles outbreak on Friday, Dr. Mark Joffe, who at the time was still Alberta’s Chief Medical Health Officer, said those complications “can include pneumonia, brain swelling and even death.”

AHS recommends anyone who believes they may have been exposed to call Alberta Health Link at 811, while also monitoring themselves for symptoms.

The symptoms of measles include:

• A fever of 38.3 C or above;
• A cough, runny nose and/or red eyes; and,
• A rash that appears from three to seven days after the fever starts, usually beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down to the body to the arms and legs.

As of Tuesday morning, the government of Alberta said there were 77 confirmed cases of measles in the province.  The majority of them — 41 — are in the central health region.  The south region has 18 cases, while the north region has 10 and Edmonton and Calgary both have four confirmed cases.

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However, Joffe said measles is also highly preventable by receiving the vaccine, which is available in Alberta free of charge.

More information is available online at www.ahs.ca/measles, and information on vaccinations can be found online at www.ahs.ca/immunize.

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