Canadian officials recently barred 41 Japanese students and teachers from returning home after one girl reported having measles symptoms.

The Kyodo News Agency reported Sunday that prior to boarding their flight home, one student complained of measles symptoms at an airport health checkpoint and the group was immediately quarantined in Vancouver.

Officials told the news agency that when the student who prompted the containment efforts and her fellow travelers are deemed free of measles, they will be allowed to return home.

The group from an unidentified girls high school in Japan is being monitored by Canadian health officials after being given measles vaccinations.

Japan currently is enduring a massive measles outbreak focused on the nation's universities and schools. Highly infectious, measles can take a maximum of 18 days to develop after an individual is exposed.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International