United States: Travelers express concern about their health safety while visiting regions with current measles outbreaks because both American and international territories have seen rising measles case numbers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 483 confirmed measles cases have emerged across more than a dozen states, including California, Florida, Ohio, and Vermont, beginning this year, and most of these cases originated from Texas, New Mexico, and Kansas.
Statistics indicate that existing case numbers surpass every case reported in the year 2024.
More about the news
Accumulated measles cases from the beginning of this year reached 483; the CDC stated that 97% happened to unvaccinated individuals or people whose vaccination status remained undetermined, as USA Today reported.
The region of Europe experienced its most significant measles outbreak in 25 years, according to recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Here’s what travelers should know
When someone who is infected coughs or sneezes, Measles shows “highly contagious” characteristics, according to the CDC.
The illness spreads through the air people breathe in after contact with microbes on surfaces, which remain infectious for two hours, and also by transferring liquids from contaminated surfaces to their eyes, mouths, and noses.
Records from the health agency show the international journey as an origin point for measles victims.
According to the CDC, “The disease is brought into the United States by unvaccinated people who get infected in other countries,” USA Today reported.
“Typically, 2 out of 3 of these unvaccinated travelers are Americans. They can spread measles to other people who are not protected against measles, which sometimes leads to outbreaks,” it added.
The CDC website states that unvaccinated people transmit the disease into American territory after getting infected in other countries.
Furthermore, Dr. Stephen S. Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, mentioned that whether or not travelers should be concerned depends on if “they already have some, what the CDC would call presumptive evidence of immunity … or if they’re going to an area where there is a fairly high measles risk.”