Скачать или смотреть Measles outbreaks threaten to end the US's disease-free status

Tuesday marks one year since the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in decades, which started in West Texas.

Since then, new measles cases have shown up in places across the U.S. every week.

Now, the United States faces the possibility of losing its measles-free country status as ongoing outbreaks continue to spread, according to a pediatric infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.

Dr. Amy Edwards, president elect for the Infectious Diseases Society of Ohio, explained that the pattern of measles cases has shifted dramatically from what the country experienced after achieving measles-free status in 2000.

For years following that milestone, measles cases remained sporadic. Unvaccinated individuals would travel abroad, contract the virus and return to the United States. However, these isolated cases rarely sparked wider transmission.

The current situation differs significantly. While unvaccinated travelers continue to bring measles into the country, the size of unvaccinated populations in surrounding communities has grown large enough to sustain outbreaks. These outbreaks have persisted and expanded rather than fizzling out.

A Cuyahoga County family has three confirmed and one suspected child who contracted measles from the South Carolina outbreak over the holidays. These cases were also the first three in the nation. The family remains isolated and the Cuyahoga County board of health did not need to do public notifications of potential exposure.

The United Kingdom lost its measles eradication status in 2019. Canada followed suit, and the United States now appears headed in the same direction and might lose its status after an international review this spring.

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