Download this transcript (18KB)

A CUP OF HEALTH WITH CDC
Measles Can Travel
Multistate Measles Outbreak Associated with an International Youth Sporting Event
— Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Texas, August–September, 2007
February 28, 2008

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC – safer,
healthier people.

[Ana Benson] Welcome to A Cup of Health with CDC, a weekly broadcast of the
MMWR, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. I’m Ana Benson, your host for this
week.

In the United States, measles is no longer a major health concern because most people
have been vaccinated against the disease. However, outbreaks of the childhood illness
can still occur. A major international sporting event for children, held in the United
States in August 2007, resulted in seven people being diagnosed with the measles.
Virtually all measles outbreaks in the United States today are caused by someone
bringing the disease in from another country and spreading it to others. Such was the
case in this most recent outbreak.

Dr. Jane Seward is Deputy Director of CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases in the National
Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Dr. Seward is joining us today to
discuss this outbreak and steps that can be taken to prevent future outbreaks. Welcome
to the show, Dr. Seward.

[Dr. Seward] Thank you.

[Ana Benson] Dr. Seward, how many countries were involved in this sporting event?

[Dr. Seward] In total, 9 countries were involved – the United States and 8 other
countries. And 16 teams, all together, from those 9 countries, played in the event.

[Ana Benson] Now, do you know how the outbreak began?

[Dr. Seward] Yes. The outbreak began with an unvaccinated twelve-year-old child who
came from Japan. He had contracted measles, likely from his brother in Japan, before
he traveled. But during his travel to the United States, he became symptomatic with
measles, and then, by the time he arrived in Pennsylvania, he had a full blown case.

[Ana Benson] Now, I understand that there were 6 other cases. What can you tell us
about those?

[Dr. Seward] Of the other 6 cases, 1 was another child who traveled from Japan. He
had also contracted measles in Japan where a large outbreak has been ongoing for
quite some time, and he came to attend the same sporting event, and became a case
once he arrived in the United States. Of the other 5 cases, 1 case occurred in a person
who was directly involved in the sporting event; he was a sponsor and he came in close
contact with the first case from Japan. The other 4 cases were not directly involved in
the sporting event and were infected either on the plane, in an airport, or in Texas, from
the sponsor who became infected in Pennsylvania.

[Ana Benson] Now because international travel is so common these days, are
outbreaks such as these preventable?

[Dr. Seward] Well, global measles control will help reduce the number of measles
imported cases, but measles still does occur throughout the world, so the United States
does remain at risk of importations of measles. The best way to prevent outbreaks in
the United States is to maintain our current high rates of vaccine coverage. Had we not
had such high rates of vaccine coverage, we would have expected a lot more measles
cases resulting from these importations. So, the good news is there weren’t 30 or 50
cases, there were just 6.

[Ana Benson] Now where can listeners go to get more information about measles?

[Dr. Seward] Listeners can get more information at CDC’s website: www.cdc.gov. Then
they can choose “Measles” from the A-Z index.

[Ana Benson] Well thank you Dr. Seward. That’s it for this week’s show. Be sure to join
us next week. Until then, be well. This is Ana Benson for A Cup of Health with CDC.

[Announcer] To access the most accurate and relevant health information that affects you, your family
and your community, please visit www.cdc.gov.