The Georgia Department of Public Health on Thursday confirmed a third case of measles in an unvaccinated international traveler.
Officials said the individual was traveling with an international group of students and does not live in the United States. The person is in isolation and receiving treatment at a local hospital, police said.
“DPH is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify and contact anyone who may have been exposed to this person to prevent further spread of measles,” officials said.
Health experts are concerned about the alarming rise in measles cases in the United States, which is already twice as many as all of last year.
The number of measles cases in the United States will increase in 2024. What is causing the increase?
This March 27, 2019 file photo shows a woman receiving a measles, mumps and rubella vaccination at the Rockland County Health Department in Pomona, New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting 113 total cases as of April 5, 2024, with another update expected Friday. More than half of those, 65, were hospitalized for isolation or management of measles complications, according to the CDC.
Of those infected, 83% had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown. 12% received her 1 MMR dose and 5% received her 2 MMR doses.
Although the number of infected people seems to be on the rise, it has not yet reached the high level of the previous year, with 667 people infected in 2014 and 1,274 in 2019.
The CDC report notes that the number of cases in the first three months of this year was 17 times the average number of cases in the first three months of the past three years.
CDC issues measles alert as number of infections in 2024 is already equal to number of infections in all of 2023
Measles outbreaks in the United States and abroad have raised health experts’ concerns about a once-common, preventable childhood virus. The CDC released a report on recent measles case trends on Thursday, April 11, 2024, showing that the number of cases in the first three months of this year is 17 times the average number of cases in the first three months of the past three years. He pointed out that. (St. Petersburg)
Although measles was once considered eradicated in the United States, it remains endemic in other parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. The CDC said in a report released Thursday that the recent increase in cases is due to unvaccinated Americans traveling abroad and bringing the disease back with them.
Health officials have confirmed measles cases in 17 states so far this year, including cases in New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago.
More than half of this year’s infections have been caused by an outbreak in Chicago, where 61 people had contracted the virus as of Thursday, most among people who had lived in immigrant shelters.
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Vials containing measles, mumps and rubella vaccines are on display at the NeighborCare clinic at Vashon Island High School on Vashon Island, Washington, on May 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
The New York City Department of Health announced Thursday that the number of infections is on the decline after officials have administered 14,000 vaccines in just over a month.
The CDC describes measles as a “highly contagious viral disease” that “can cause serious health complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and death, especially in unvaccinated people.” “There is,” he explains.
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“To prevent measles infection and reduce the risk of community transmission from imported products, all U.S. residents traveling internationally should be up to date with MMR vaccination, regardless of destination,” the agency said. said in a warning issued last month. “Healthcare providers should ensure that children have received routine immunizations, including MMR.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
