April 4 (UPI) -- Ottawa's public health agency has confirmed a case of measles in Canada's capital city.
In a statement published Wednesday, Ottawa Public Health said it was working with local healthcare providers and hospitals to contact people who may have been exposed to the infected person at several locations throughout the city including a Real Canadian Superstore and an office building between March 26 and April 2.
There have so far been 27 reported cases of the highly infectious disease in Canada this year, a significant increase from five confirmed cases by the same time last year, according to Government of Canada data.
Canada also had a total of 29 reported measles cases for all of 2018.
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However, there were 45 reported measles cases in 2017 and 11 reported measles cases in 2016.
Early symptoms of the disease may include fever, cough or small white spots in the mouth, the Ottawa health agency said, urging anyone experiencing these symptoms to seek medical attention.
News of the confirmed case follows a study published Monday by the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stating there have been more measles cases reported in the United States during the first four months of 2019 than were reported for all of 2018.
So far this year, 387 cases have been reported in 15 states while there were only 372 cases of measles reported in all of 2018.
Meanwhile, Rockland County declared a state of emergency late last month banning anyone under the age of 18 who is not vaccinated from public places as it struggles to contain a measles outbreak.
Since October, there have been 153 reported in the New York suburb.
