Health authorities were on high alert after a case of measles was discovered in a child in Calgary. The child is recovering at home now and is doing well. It was still not clear how he contracted the infection. It is being speculated that he might have been received it from a relative.

The child had received the first dose of vaccination but was still not old enough to get the second shot, according to health authorities.    

Health authorities have issued an alert that people who visited the Huntington Superstore between 12:45 p.m. and 3 p.m. or were at the Cross Iron Mills mall between 1:45 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday should need to be on alert for measles symptoms.

People who have already not had measles or who have not received vaccination for it are at a higher risk for contracting the virus. Its symptoms include fever, a red blotchy rash that begins on the face and spreads to the body, and flu-like symptoms.

It is a highly infectious disease and can spread through coughing and sneezing apart from coming in close contact with someone who has measles.  

There have only been eight cases of measles in Alberta from 2005 to 2009. It can lead to ear infection or pneumonia in children. In extreme cases it can lead to deafness or mental disability or even death.

Measles can also cause serious illness in adults and considerably increase the risk of miscarriage and premature delivery in pregnant women.