Measles Outbreak 2019

From January 1 to November 7, 2019, the Center for Prevention and Disease Control (CDC) reported 1,261 cases of measles in 31 States in the USA.  

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that measles is the world's largest and fastest-moving epidemic and that it has infected over 165,000 and has killed nearly 5,000 people 90% of who were children under the age of 5 in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone since the beginning of 2019.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads through coughing and sneezing. Up to 90% of the people close to the infected person, who are not immune, will also become infected. 

UNICEF said it was urgently trying to vaccinate more children against measles and rushing life-saving medicines to health centers to help prevent deaths. WHO said that it was working with the government in Congo and other NGO groups in an effort to vaccinate 825,000 children. 

WHO says that the largest numbers have been reported in Congo Madagascar, Ukraine, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Philippines, South Sudan, Sudan and in Thailand.