A premature newborn in Ontario, Canada, has died after contracting measles—the first death this year linked to an ongoing outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease in the country.
Ontario health officials reported the death Thursday. The child caught the viral infection from their mother, who was not vaccinated from measles. Canada, the U.S., and Mexico have all faced surging outbreaks of measles in 2025, fueled by low vaccination rates in certain regions.
“It is with deep sadness that I confirm that an infant, born prematurely and infected with measles, has tragically passed away in southwestern Ontario,” said Kieran Moore, the chief medical officer of health in Ontario, in a statement.
The ongoing measles outbreaks in North America are believed to have first started in Ontario last fall. By January 2025, measles began to hit parts of Texas, with cases eventually spreading to nearby states and Northern Mexico. The outbreaks have largely occurred in rural Mennonite communities where people often forego routine vaccinations and other healthcare services provided by outside doctors. The U.S. and Mexico have each reported around 1,000 cases of measles this year, while over 2,700 cases have been reported in Canada, mostly in Ontario. But these numbers are almost certainly an underestimate of the problem.
According to Moore, the child contracted measles while in the womb, which may have contributed to their premature birth. The child did have other medical complications unrelated to the virus, however, so it’s possible that the infection may not have been the primary or sole factor behind their death. Measles in general has a very low fatality rate, but it’s highly contagious among unvaccinated people and is known to be more dangerous to developing fetuses and very young children. Over 100,000 people died from measles globally in 2023, according to the World Health Organization, most of whom were children under the age of five.
Though this is Canada’s first death linked to measles this year, it’s not the first in North America. There have been three confirmed measles deaths in the U.S. so far, while more than 100 people (mostly children) have been hospitalized. Unlike the latest death, two of these U.S. deaths occurred in children with no pre-existing health issues.
Measles has been resurgent in much of the world as of late, aided by declining vaccination rates. But while this problem has been building up over time, the situation in the U.S. is only expected to worsen under the current presidential administration. Many of President Donald Trump’s appointees—in particular Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—have regularly spread misinformation about the safety of vaccines, including the combination measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. Kennedy has both downplayed the ongoing outbreaks and supported dubious measles treatments with little to no evidence behind them, such as cod liver oil supplements. Many Americans today remain woefully in the dark about the severity of these outbreaks and the importance of vaccination.
“Anyone who is unvaccinated is at risk and I urge everyone, but especially those who may become pregnant, to ensure they have received two doses of the MMR vaccine, which will protect both a parent and baby. This vaccine has been safely used for over 50 years and is highly effective,” Moore noted in his announcement of the child’s death.
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