The number of measles cases in the United States has crossed 1,000 for the first time in five years, federal data showed on Friday (May 9), as the country battles one of its worst outbreaks of the childhood disease.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,001 measles cases in 31 jurisdictions, as of Thursday.
The CDC count does not reflect the latest data from Texas, the epicentre of the current measles outbreak, where cases have increased by seven to a total of 709.
Researchers have warned that the United States is at a tipping point for the return of endemic measles, a quarter century after the disease was declared eradicated in the country.
Infections only previously surpassed the 1,000 mark in 2019 when the country reported 1,274 cases.
“I think we are still at risk of seeing these numbers at least stay steady, if not continue to increase over time,” said Lisa Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
The CDC said 13 per cent of those infected with the disease this year have been hospitalised. There have been three confirmed deaths so far – two young girls in Texas and an adult in New Mexico. All three were unvaccinated.
The outbreak in Texas is centred in a Mennonite community and has spread to neighbouring states, including New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas.
North Dakota is the latest state to report an outbreak, with nine cases so far. Around 180 school students have been forced to quarantine at home, according to the North Dakota Monitor.
“This is a virus that’s the most contagious infectious disease of mankind, and it’s now spreading like wildfire,” Paul Offit, a paediatrician and vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told AFP.
He warned the true case count could be far higher, as people shy away from seeking medical attention. “Those three deaths equal the total number of deaths from measles in the last 25 years in this country.”
US paediatricians and infectious disease experts say that the fight against rising measles cases nationwide is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination by government health officials and by misleading statements about unproven treatments that confuse parents.
The measles vaccine is 97 per cent effective after two doses, according to the CDC.
