US loses measles elimination status after cases surge, WSJ says
Published in News & Features
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has lost its long-standing status as having eradicated measles after transmission of the disease has continued through the past year and broken case records, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The report followed a review of the evidence by the Pan American Health Organization, which verifies nations’ elimination status.
PAHO evaluates whether a single strain of measles virus has been circulating in a community for 12 months. Utah’s outbreak — which has infected more than 700 people — met the criteria and cost the U.S. its status.
While the loss of the status is just a label, it does represent a national failure to control the highly contagious disease. It’s also likely to prompt warnings about travel to the U.S. and vaccine advisories from other nations.
(Andrea Navarro contributed to this report.)
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