Canada loses measles-free status as cases surge past 5,000

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00:00The measles outbreak, making headlines in parts of the U.S., is also spreading north of the border.

00:08And now Canada has lost its measles elimination status.

00:12It's a rare and serious setback, a move public health experts see as a warning sign to other countries.

00:18The outbreak began last fall in New Brunswick and has since spread nationwide, with more than 5,000 cases reported.

00:24Among the most tragic, two premature infants did not survive after their mothers were infected.

00:30We have highly effective tools to prevent measles.

00:35Measles is not only a deadly disease, but it's a very, very costly disease.

00:40And so it's in every country's best interest to eliminate measles and to have this indication of a clear loss of progress,

00:51a clear decision to go back by decades' worth of progress, is just deeply disheartening.

00:58Canada's Public Health Agency is now rolling out a plan to boost vaccination rates

01:02and improve national surveillance to track new cases.

01:06The country first wiped out measles back in 1998, but like in the U.S. and Mexico, the virus is making a comeback.