Soaring number of Alberta measles cases worries health officials in both Canada, U.S. [Video]

Fourteen new confirmed cases of measles over the past 24 hours means the number of cases in Alberta has now climbed to a total of 409.

A large majority of the cases — 269 — are in Alberta’s south health zone, which includes the communities of Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Taber.

More than three-quarters of the people diagnosed with the virus are children and three people are in hospital, in intensive care.

“I think it’s actually just crazy — it’s appalling,” said Dr Lenore Saxinger, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta.

“For context, when many current doctors were in training, in the early 2000s, shortly after measles was eliminated as something that circulates in Canada, we would see less than 10 cases a year for many years — and now we’re getting essentially close to 10 or more cases a day.”

Amongst all the provinces, Alberta is …