Whooping cough outbreaks in Canada: What health officials say

Whooping cough is being reported in higher-than-usual numbers in parts of Canada this year, health officials tell CTVNews.ca.

Cases of pertussis – the infection’s clinical name – are increasing in several provinces and territories, a spokesperson for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada said in an email Friday.

Joshua Coke said increased activity was not unexpected post-pandemic, as case numbers reached record lows between 2020 and 2022. But, he said, cases in five provinces have now surpassed the pre-pandemic peak.

The provinces seeing more cases this year than they have in the past are Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canadian health officials have reported 19,000 cases of pertussis so far this year, Coke said. In addition to the provinces seeing a higher-than-usual number of cases, outbreaks or increases have been noted in Alberta, British Columbia and Nunavut.

Whooping cough is considered a “nationally notifiable disease” in Canada, meaning it’s an illness that PHAC tracks country-wide, with reports from provincial and territorial health officials. It’s monitored through the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System, which has been set up to keep track of transmission of infectious diseases.

This system was created for the monitoring and control of specific diseases deemed a priority, such as leprosy, cholera, measles, anthrax, chickenpox and meningitis. It’s been around since the 1920s.

This is a developing news story and will be updated.