measles Pan-American Health Organization officials warn that outbreaks across North America are threatening the region's formal elimination of the virus' status.
The UN agency noted that compared with the same period last year, measles cases in North and South America have been reported 4.5 times this year.
More than 97% of cases in the region so far this year are in the United States or Canada. Cases in Mexico and Argentina were also reported.
“Given the increase in global measles cases, the risk of outbreaks is increased, coupled with factors such as the first and second doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines,” the World Health Organization said in a report released last week.
Other factors cited by PAHO drive transmission include increased movement in people around the Americas and the rise in dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection that can mask the spread of measles due to similar symptoms.
What is measles elimination?
After a year of recording the virus, the United States achieved measles elimination in 2000. WHO officials declared measles free in North and South America in 2016, making America the first region to reach world milestones.
Health officials define “measles elimination” as evidence of no endemic transmission of highly contagious viruses for at least 12 months. A continuous transmission chain that lasts for at least one year will reverse this goal.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention generally reports hundreds of measles cases each year Around the United Statesmany short-term outbreaks from uninoculated young children outside the United States
The last big outbreak of the virus was in Illinois last year. It is limited to Chicago’s immigration shelters.
CDC officials warned in 2019 that the country was at risk of losing its measles elimination condition after the outbreak occurred in communities in the New York area that were under-vaced. However, the United States finally remains in its shape.
Outbreaks in Texas and Canada
Authorities have been fighting for the growing number of measles outbreaks associated with uninoculated communities Spread across northwest Texas. At least 158 cases have been confirmed, state officials said Monday.
A child died last month From the outbreak. CDC death certificate data shows that the latest reported measles deaths were measles deaths in the United States by 2019.
The Trump administration has intensified news about the outbreak in recent days, including Specialized editing Supported by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Texas officials.
“The CDC is actively supporting Texas health officials and will work with frontline health care providers on Tuesday,” HHS vice president Stefanie Spear said in a statement Monday.
In Canada, officials have also been fighting for a month-long outbreak that spreads between the country’s two provinces.
Ontario's public health department reported at least 177 cases related to the epidemic.
