The ongoing measles outbreak in the United States has reached a record for any year since the disease was considered eliminated 15 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday, with 288 cases of the potentially deadly infection in 18 states.
The largest measles clusters are in Ohio (138 confirmed cases), California (60) and New York (26), according to the CDC. Almost all - 97 percent - have been brought into the country by travelers, mainly Americans, who contracted the disease abroad. About half of those were people who picked up the disease in the Philippines, where a large measles outbreak has affected more than 20,000 people since October of 2013, causing dozens of deaths.
In this country, the biggest outbreak is centered in the Amish community in Ohio, where many of the residents are unvaccinated, the CDC reported.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that generally affects young children, causing fever, a runny nose, a cough and a distinctive rash all over the body. About one in 10 children also gets an ear infection and one in 20 comes down with pneumonia. A person with measles is contagious as long as four days before the symptoms are apparent. Parents and even physicians who haven't seen measles in years may be unaware of the early warning signs.
The largest number of confirmed cases of measles since the infection was declared eradicated nearly 15 years ago occurred in 2011, when 220 were recorded. In the past 20 years, a concerted public health campaign, especially among lower-income families, has made measles outbreaks rare.
But today, the number of unvaccinated children has begun to become a problem. Some people are choosing not to have their children immunized for personal reasons and others are unaware of, or unable to get, vaccinations, before they arrive in the U.S. Some adults lose their immunity over time and may need to be re-vaccinated.
I'll have more after a noon news conference by the CDC.
