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Ohio Measles Outbreak Is Biggest in U.S. Since 1996
NBC News ^ | May 13, 2014 | Jonel Aleccia

Posted on 05/13/2014 9:33:16 AM PDT by FewsOrange

An Ohio measles outbreak tied to unvaccinated Amish travelers who visited the Philippines has reached 66 cases — the most in a single state in the U.S. since 1996, health officials said Monday.

It’s part of a larger surge of measles nationwide that has topped last year’s 186 cases and is closing in fast on the 220 cases reported in 2011, the most since the highly contagious disease was considered eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest official CDC figures logged 161 cases as of May 3, but there have been dozens more reported since then, officials said.

Travelers bringing home the virus that can linger in the air for hours have spread the disease to growing pockets of unvaccinated children and adults back home. California has posted 59 cases; New York has logged 26 this year.

In Ohio, all of the cases have been confined to the Amish community, but health officials there have said they fear that it could expand to the wider population.

“There’s a good chance that someone who doesn’t know they have been exposed will pass the virus on to the non-Amish population — who we commonly refer to as the English,” Knox County Health Commissioner Julie Miller told reporters recently.

The outbreak has been traced to unvaccinated Amish aid workers who traveled to the Philippines on a volunteer mission to help with typhoon recovery — and returned to spread measles to family members, who in turn gave it to others. The Philippines is in the midst of a measles outbreak that has sickened more than 26,000 and killed more than 40, according to the World Health Organization.

Amish communities typically have low vaccination rates, but at least 800 people have been vaccinated in Knox County and another 2,000 have gotten shots in nearby Holmes County, which both have large Amish populations, said Pam Palm, a health department spokeswoman.

The Ohio cases are the most in a single state since 107 measles cases were confirmed in Utah in 1996. That year, the outbreak accounted for 25 percent of all measles cases reported, according to the CDC.

Measles was considered wiped out in the U.S. after a concerted public health campaign, mostly in low-income families. The CDC’s Vaccines for Children Program, which pays for vaccines for poorer families, was started in response to a resurgence in measles that sickened 55,000 people between 1989 and 1991.

At its peak in the U.S., measles killed 500 people a year in the U.S. and hospitalized about 48,000. The CDC recommends two doses of measles vaccine for children older than 1 and for adults and teens who have not had the disease or been inoculated.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: measles
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1 posted on 05/13/2014 9:33:16 AM PDT by FewsOrange
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To: FewsOrange

Spreading the diseases, Americans refuse to spread.


2 posted on 05/13/2014 9:34:03 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: FewsOrange

OK, I’ll bite....the Amish would want to travel to the Philippines WHY exactly??


3 posted on 05/13/2014 9:35:18 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

To go on a religious mission.
Amish are not the only group that does this...


4 posted on 05/13/2014 9:37:40 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Rip it out by the roots.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

That was my thought exactly. These are people who refuse to put electricity in their homes and go begging for rides, yet they are now international travelers? What up with that?


5 posted on 05/13/2014 9:37:56 AM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
I can't speak for these particular individuals, but the Mennonites in my neck of the woods drive fancy cars, modern tractors & harvesters, and take Disney vacations whenever they can.

The only religious component I can see is they just hate paying taxes or for doctor's visits.
6 posted on 05/13/2014 9:38:56 AM PDT by struwwelpeter
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
To go on a religious mission. Amish are not the only group that does this...

But HOW to they get there? I mean: They insist upon going everywhere by horse-and-buggy, don't they? Were 747s mentioned in the Bible, thus making them an "allowed" form of transportation?

Regards,

7 posted on 05/13/2014 9:39:46 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

ahhh....I see.

I had a great uncle who was a Catholic Priest who went to the Philippines on a religious mission and stayed for 35 years.

I know many other churches do this. I did not realize that the Amish did. Here in Pennsylvania they seem rather insular and are not out doing any recruiting that I have seen.


8 posted on 05/13/2014 9:42:13 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: alexander_busek

Ocean-going draft horses with water proof buggies, probably.


9 posted on 05/13/2014 9:43:24 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Rip it out by the roots.)
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To: alexander_busek
I mean: They insist upon going everywhere by horse-and-buggy, don't they?

No.

They may be driven in a car, take the bus, train or, in this case, airplane.

They may not operate them but riding is ok.

10 posted on 05/13/2014 9:43:32 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

I was also surprised to hear Amish visiting the Phillipines. I’ve never heard of Amish missions. I believe them to be a very insular group who have little to do with evangelization.


11 posted on 05/13/2014 9:44:04 AM PDT by workerbee (The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1!)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
They may be driven in a car, take the bus, train or, in this case, airplane.

What do I care? I'm not the one going to Hell.

David Puddy on Seinfeld


12 posted on 05/13/2014 9:48:33 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Article says they went there to help after the tycoon hit the Philippines.


13 posted on 05/13/2014 9:48:59 AM PDT by Marcella (Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: Marcella

Quite admirable.


14 posted on 05/13/2014 9:49:37 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog
OK, I’ll bite....the Amish would want to travel to the Philippines WHY exactly??

"The outbreak has been traced to unvaccinated Amish aid workers who traveled to the Philippines on a volunteer mission to help with typhoon recovery — and returned to spread measles to family members, who in turn gave it to others. The Philippines is in the midst of a measles outbreak that has sickened more than 26,000 and killed more than 40, according to the World Health Organization. "

15 posted on 05/13/2014 9:50:01 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( "For those who have fought for it, Life bears a savor the protected will never know")
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To: Marcella

tycoon = typhoon


16 posted on 05/13/2014 9:52:17 AM PDT by Marcella (Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
They are often asked to travel demonstrate agriculture techniques that can be done without modern equipment.
17 posted on 05/13/2014 9:52:37 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: FewsOrange
At its peak in the U.S., measles killed 500 people a year in the U.S.

We did a lot of vaccination for measles in Uganda & Kenya. Back in the 1980's measles was killing about 35,000 kids each year in Kenya.

18 posted on 05/13/2014 9:52:46 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( "For those who have fought for it, Life bears a savor the protected will never know")
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To: FewsOrange

So, directly or indirectly, this can be tied to global warming. Calling algore — Global Warming spreads Measles!


19 posted on 05/13/2014 9:54:27 AM PDT by Londo Molari
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To: NFHale

“The Philippines is in the midst of a measles outbreak that has sickened more than 26,000 and killed more than 40, according to the World Health Organization.”

Looks like those who live in the Philippines don’t care much about vaccinations. What else aren’t they getting vaccinated for? Don’t think I would want to live there.


20 posted on 05/13/2014 9:55:10 AM PDT by Marcella (Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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