CTV News reports that things are not looking good in Alberta, Canada.
Alberta added 31 new measles cases on Friday to reach a total of 1,407 infections since March.
The majority of the cases, 18, were detected in the north zone.
Six cases were found in Calgary, five in the south zone, one in central Alberta, and one in Edmonton.
Earlier this week, Alberta surpassed the United States in confirmed measles cases.
Dean Blundell has more, much of it scathing.
“Freedom Sores” and Faith-Based Failure: How Alberta Became the Measles Capital of the World
Religious extremism, political cowardice, and anti-vax hillbillies have made Alberta ground zero for a third-world disease.
The Canadian province of Alberta has officially surpassed the United States in the number of confirmed measles cases.
Let that sink in. Alberta — with just 4.6 million people — now leads North America in a disease we eliminated in the 1990s. The province has racked up 1,407 active measles cases, compared to 1,309 for the entire U.S
And the reason? Simple. Alberta is infected — not just with measles, but with a political virus and a religious death cult that’s been festering in the UCP’s base for years. Welcome to Freedom Country, where anti-vax evangelicals and cowardly conservative politicians have turned “personal choice” into a province-wide outbreak
This isn’t a public health failure. It’s a public health execution — and the weapon is willful stupidity.
Let’s take a walk through their cowardice:
No school vaccine mandates. Unlike other provinces, Alberta does not require children to be vaccinated to attend school. It’s a “parental rights” thing, apparently — which is political code for don’t piss off the base.
No public health emergency declaration. Despite more cases than the entire U.S., the UCP government refused to call it an emergency. Why? Because that would mean admitting that “freedom” failed.
No strategy. No province-wide immunization blitz. No penalties for spreading misinformation. No real leadership.
Sound familiar?
Alberta is Canada’s oil patch, with big deposits of oil sands. Alberta is also threatening to secede from Canada under UCP leadership. Many of the same themes running through the MAGA movement in the U.S. resonate there, along with the baleful influence of the petroleum industry.
Clearly, conservative beliefs and petro-politics should be considered health hazards.
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