Measles cases in the U.S. incrementally rise to 1,046, as the outbreak in Indiana concludes. Here's a breakdown of the facts.
Rebooted Report:
Yo, let's talk about that resurgence of the measles bizniz in the US. Last week, we saw a hop-up in cases – 1,046 confirmed cases, to be exact – and it seems the outbreaks might be slowing down, but some events have public health workers on edge.
Case in point – a packed airport in Colorado and a Shakira concert in New Jersey. Guess they can't stop the beat, or the measles virus!
Texas, where the nation's biggest measles outbreak went down recently, tacked on another case, raising their total to 729. Besides the Lone Star State, there are three major outbreaks happening in North America, makin' things a bit of a Heisman Trophy-style scramble for the CDC.
One of these outbreaks is in Ontario, Canada, causing 1,795 cases from mid-October through May 20, and another in Alberta, Canada, hitting 538 folks as of Thursday. The Mexican state of Chihuahua ain't been left out of the fun, either, with 1,578 cases – and three deaths – as of Friday. Yikes!
Things have been tough in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, with two elementary school-aged rugrats in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico kickin' the bucket due to measles. All these victims were unvaccinated, man.
On the bright side, the outbreak that's been raging in Texas seemed to be slowin' down last week. CDC incident manager Dr. Manisha Patel said it's still "travel season" and there's "a lot of global measles activity right now," though, so things could change.
Other states with measles outbreaks include Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Indiana's outbreak has been declared over, fortunately.
In case you're curious how many measles cases there are in Texas, they're spread across 34 counties, mostly in West Texas. One more person was hospitalized, bringing the total to 94 throughout the outbreak. Less than 1% of cases – fewer than 10 – are actively infectious, and most cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892. The county has had 408 cases since late January, which is just over 1.7% of the county's residents.
If you're interested in New Mexico's measles count, they added one more case since Friday for a total of 79. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak began, and pretty much all of the state's cases are in Lea County.
Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee also have measles cases. All details on these outbreaks, including case counts, can be found in the Related Content section below.
Remember that measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that travels through the air, and it's completely preventable with vaccines. The disease has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000, so it's crucial to keep these numbers in check.
Extra Facts You Might Find Interesting
- Outbreaks in Other Countries: The current measles outbreaks are not just a North American problem. As of the latest updates, countries like Ukraine, Madagascar, and the Philippines are also dealing with significant measles outbreaks.
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