Confirmed measles cases in Montreal up to 15

The number of confirmed measles cases in Quebec was up to 21 Friday afternoon, according to the latest data from the provincial government.

Fifteen of those are in Montreal and fewer than five in Laval.

Public health listed 22 locations in Montreal where people may have been exposed. Those include, most recently, a clinic on Saint-Hubert Street and another on Lacordaire Boulevard.

In Laval, there was recent potential exposures at two separate medical clinics in Sainte-Dorothee.

Measles is highly contagious; the virus can remain active for up to two hours in a room even after an infected person has left. It also has a long incubation period – usually between 10 and 14 days. Its symptoms include fever, cough and a bumpy, red rash.

Common complications are ear infections and diarrhea. In rare cases, measles can be fatal.

Measles was previously eradicated in Canada through vaccinations, but it’s quietly spreading again. Health officials are urging vaccination is the best way to prevent it from doing so.

–With files from La Presse Canadienne