While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week included Louisiana in an advisory warning people about a high number of measles cases across the country, the two cases reported in New Orleans do not indicate there is an outbreak, state health officials said Thursday.
The CDC’s report listed 21 states in which the infectious disease was reported from January through July 14. Louisiana’s cases involved unvaccinated persons who traveled or lived outside the U.S., said Dr. Frank Welch, the immunizations director for the state Department of Health. The cases were unrelated.
“Measles is not endemic in the U.S. anymore,” Welch said. “This is not a measles ‘breakout,’” meaning a disease that can be transmitted rapidly from person to person.
The U.S. has been “measles-free for 20 years,” he said. “The MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella) is very effective.” Measles is still common in other parts of the world people traveling abroad should be current on their vaccinations, the CDC says.
Measles is an extremely contagious viral illness with an incubation period of about 7 to 14 days. Symptoms include a high fever, a cough, runny nose and rash. The worst cases can lead to hospitalization or death.
In the CDC report, Louisiana had measles cases this year along with Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. The District of Columbia was also on the list.
There was a total of 107 measles cases in the U.S., the CDC said. “The majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated,” the agency said.
People are considered immune to measles once they have had the disease, but Welch said medical staff advised the parents to still have their child vaccinated, for protection against mumps and rubella.
The last time that Louisiana saw an incident of measles was a single case in 2009, Welch said.
Louisiana state law requires that children receive two MMR vaccinations, one at a year to 15 months of age and the second one at age 4, before they start school.
