Measles outbreaks put U.S. at risk of losing prized ‘elimination’ status
If measles outbreaks continue, the U.S. could join Venezuela and Brazil as the only countries in the Americas where the disease is considered endemic.
With two large and still growing outbreaks in New York pushing the country’s measles count to a quarter-century high, public health officials are starting to grapple with an unpleasant prospect.
The Rockland County and Brooklyn outbreaks have dragged on for eight months. If transmission from either of those outbreaks continues until late September, the United States will likely lose a hard-fought and prized status — that of a country deemed to have “eliminated” measles.
And if that happens — Venezuela and Brazil are the only other countries in the Americas where measles is considered endemic, or constantly circulating — the implications could be profound,
