CDC: US ​​measles cases have already tripled this year compared to 2023 total

Written by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

Federal health officials have reported that the number of measles cases so far in 2024 has already tripled the total for 2023.

According to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 26, at least 188 cases of measles have been reported in the United States in 2024. A total of 26 states and Washington, D.C., have reported cases of the virus, which officials say can cause serious illness in children.

In 2023, a total of 58 cases of measles were reported in the United States, according to CDC data.

In 2024, there have been 13 outbreaks reported so far, which the CDC defines as three or more linked cases, and about 65% of the cases are linked to outbreaks, according to the agency. Children under 5 years old account for nearly half of the cases in 2024.

Cases have been reported this year in Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, the agency said.

No deaths from the virus have been reported so far in 2024, according to the CDC, but 93 patients have been hospitalized.

Local health officials have issued several alerts this year because infected people who recently traveled abroad are potentially exposing others to measles at airports, including an incident at Philadelphia International Airport in late May. In early July, public health departments in Washington state and Ohio issued similar warnings.

“Measles is a very contagious infection and if you are not yet immune, you can catch it just by being in a room where someone with measles has been,” Eric Chow, an official with the King County Public Health Agency, said in a statement.

In March, the CDC issued a health alert regarding an increase in “measles cases worldwide and in the United States,” stating that people traveling abroad should exercise caution before leaving the country.

But despite the recent increase, the numbers are far lower than those reported in 2019, when about 1,300 cases were reported in the United States.

Globally, measles cases increased by 18% and deaths by 43% between 2021 and 2022, according to a report released by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC in late 2023.

Outbreak in migrant shelter

A significant number of measles cases reported in the United States this year have been linked to the spread of the virus in a Chicago shelter that houses illegal immigrants. As of May, 57 cases were linked to the outbreak in shelters, the CDC said in a report.

“Most cases have occurred in unvaccinated individuals. A rapid and coordinated response with a high-coverage mass vaccination campaign has reduced the magnitude and duration of the outbreak,” the agency said, referring to the Chicago outbreak.

The CDC added that this setting allowed measles to spread rapidly to the 2,100 “potentially exposed shelter residents” starting in early March.

Symptoms

Authorities say measles, a highly contagious virus, typically has two stages. During the first, most people develop a fever above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), a runny nose, red, watery eyes, or a cough. These symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure.

According to officials, the second stage of measles begins two to three days after symptoms first appear. Some people develop what are called Koplik spots, tiny white spots, inside the mouth, the CDC says.

Three to five days after the first symptoms appear, the telltale measles rash begins to appear on the patient’s face near the hairline before spreading to the rest of the body.

“Small, raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots,” and the “spots may join together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body,” the CDC says on its website. “When the rash appears, a person’s fever may rise to over 104°F (40°C).