US measles outbreak worst 288 cases detected

(MENAFN- Arab News) Washington: the ongoing measles outbreak in us has reached a record for any year since the disease was eliminated in this country 14 years ago with 288 cases of the potentially deadly infection reported in 18 states the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) said thursday.

the rise in the outbreak has been attributed to unvaccinated people health authorities said thursday.

the largest measles clusters are in ohio (138 confirmed cases) california (60) and new york (26) according to the cdc. almost all — 97 percent — have been brought into the country by travelers mainly americans who contracted the infection abroad. about half of the infections were picked up in the philippines where a large measles outbreak has affected more than 32000 people causing 41 deaths between jan. 1 and april 20 according to the cdc.

'this is the largest number of measles cases in the united states reported in the first five months of a year since 1994" said the cdc. nearly all the cases have involved americans who were not vaccinated against the highly contagious disease and who traveled abroad and caught the infection in other countries.

then they 'brought the virus back to the united states and spread to others in communities where many people are not vaccinated" said anne schuchat assistant surgeon general and director of cdc's national center for immunization and respiratory diseases. many of the us clusters originated after people traveled to the philippines where a large measles outbreak has been ongoing since late 2013.

'ninety percent of all measles cases in the united states were in people who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown" the cdc statement added. eighty-five percent of unvaccinated people said they declined the shot for 'religious philosophical or personal reasons."

the cdc urged people to get vaccinated against measles which it described as a 'serious respiratory disease that is highly contagious." symptoms include fever rash runny nose pink eye and cough.

worldwide an estimated 20 million people get measles and 122000 die from the disease each year.