By Betsy McKay
ATLANTA--Measles is off to a busy start in the U.S. this year,
with 84 cases reported as of Jan. 28, exceeding some recent yearly
totals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said
Thursday.
The cases were reported in 14 states. Of them, 56 are linked to
a large outbreak of measles that originated in December at Disney
theme parks, the CDC said. The remaining 28 are individuals who
appear to have been infected overseas and brought the disease into
the U.S., the agency said.
The high number of cases this month follows a particularly busy
2014 and has health officials worried about further spread of a
disease that was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000. "We
want to prevent measles from getting a foothold in the U.S. and
becoming endemic again," Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's
national center for immunization and respiratory diseases, told
reporters on a conference call.
The median number of measles cases a year between 2001 and 2010
was 60, Dr. Schuchat said--fewer than were reported in the first
four weeks of this year. The true number of cases in January could
be even higher, as the CDC counts only cases that have been
confirmed.
Those infected with measles but not linked to the outbreaks at
Disneyland or Disney California Adventure had recently been in
Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Qatar, India and Dubai, Dr. Schuchat
said.
While the source of the Disney outbreaks isn't known, public
health officials believe it was started by someone visiting one of
the parks who had been infected overseas, Dr. Schuchat said.
Genetic analysis links the virus causing the upsurge to outbreaks
in 14 nations, she said.
The outbreak has some concerned about whether the Super Bowl, to
be held this weekend in Arizona, presents another opportunity for
the spread of measles. But Dr. Schuchat played down those
concerns.
She stressed the importance of immunization and said the vaccine
is safe and effective. "This is not a problem of the measles
vaccine not working, " she said. "This is a problem of measles
vaccine not being used."
Write to Betsy McKay at betsy.mckay@wsj.com
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