The United States is grappling with a surge in measles cases, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting 62 confirmed infections as of Thursday, surpassing the total for the entire previous year. The uptick in cases has prompted health officials to issue warnings and urge vaccination, particularly for children and international travelers.
According to the CDC, most of the measles cases reported this year have been among children aged 12 months and older who had not received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. The highly contagious, airborne virus primarily affects children under the age of five and can be prevented by two doses of the vaccine.
Investigators have traced some of the early infections to visits to Florida, shedding light on the spread of the virus across state lines. Measles cases that turned up in Indiana, Louisiana, and Ohio this year were linked to travel to the Sunshine State, according to emails obtained by CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request.
"As mentioned, we've had an Ohio case that visited [redacted] Florida as well as a case of our own in the region so definitely curious if there is a connection," wrote Megan Gumke, an epidemiologist for the Florida Department of Health, in a Feb. 21 email.
However, Grant Kemp, deputy press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, cautioned against highlighting Florida as the epicenter of the measles cases, noting that other states have also reported infections. "When communicable diseases are identified in out-of-state residents, that information is transferred to the state where they reside and are not classified as a Florida case," Kemp said.
In addition to the cases linked to travel, Florida's Broward County experienced an outbreak at an elementary school earlier this year, with nine cases reported before state officials declared the outbreak over. The initial case was a 9-year-old child who had not been vaccinated due to a religious exemption.
The CDC has stepped up its plea for unvaccinated Americans to get a shot before international travel, updating its guidance on March 13 to urge those as young as six months old to seek out a shot as early as six weeks before their trip abroad. Among measles infections reported so far this year, the CDC said 93% had been linked to travel outside of the country.
While no special vaccination guidance has been published for travelers within the U.S. to states with outbreaks, the CDC continues to recommend that everyone starting at 12 months old get vaccinated against measles. The MMR vaccine has been widely used for decades and is considered safe and effective against the once-common illness.
Officials attribute the recent uptick in cases to missed routine shots during the pandemic and emphasize the need to catch up on vaccinations. However, they also believe that the current situation remains "nowhere close to" the kind of ongoing outbreaks that threatened the U.S. before the vaccine was introduced.
"Given currently high population immunity against measles in most U.S. communities, the risk of widescale spread is low. However, pockets of low coverage leave some communities at higher risk for outbreaks," the CDC warned.
The World Health Organization also issued a global warning on Tuesday, pointing to "big gaps" in immunization programs that put more than half of the world's countries at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year. With measles cases on the rise both domestically and internationally, health officials are urging individuals to prioritize vaccination to protect themselves and their communities from this highly contagious virus.
