Health officials have quarantined about 130 Japanese tourists in a resort hotel in Banff after one sick member of the group who remained in B.C. tested positive for the measles.
The group, reportedly mostly high school students, arrived in Calgary from Vancouver on Sunday. The tour group then boarded buses and headed toward the Rocky Mountain resort town.
The Calgary Health Region said the quarantine is strictly precautionary and that the students are being tested for their immunity to measles. The results are expected on Tuesday.
Dr. Judy MacDonald of the Calgary Health Region stressed there is, so far, no indication that any members of the group are infectious. The name of the hotel the group is staying in has not been released.
"They don't pose a risk to anyone else who they came in contact with," MacDonald told CTV Calgary in an interview.
However, health officials in Vancouver are trying to reach all passengers who were on board the tour group's flight from Japan to Vancouver, as well as anyone else who may have been exposed to the group members, reported CTV Calgary reporter Reg Hampton.
"There have been several outbreaks of measles in Japan recently, and health officials are saying that it's very likely that's where the girl got the disease," said Hampton.
Calgary has a 94 per cent immunization rate for measles, but health officials say they're alerting the public because the potential spread of measles is a very serious health concern.
In Japan, hundreds of students have been infected by the highly contagious illness that has spread from Tokyo to outlying areas, forcing the closure of about a dozen universities for varying periods.
The outbreak is believed to be Japan's largest in five years. Japan is the only developed country to still experience epidemics.
Measles is no longer endemic in North America, where vaccinations programs have largely eradicated the disease.
With a report from CTV Calgary
