WELCOME

The measles virus is not only a health threat to

Aug. 12, 2018 by Lena Webb

The measles virus is not only a health threat to children and teens, but it also has led to outbreaks of measles in the United States and Europe, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In late 2015, at least 12 people died because of measles in a small Philadelphia city.

But Dr. Joseph Heller, chief medical officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the disease may have been an "acute" illness.

In a post this week, he wrote, "If you have been exposed to the measles virus, it's the most widespread and severe, a pandemic in the history of the world."

Dr. Heller said the CDC and its partners had a "clear mandate" to help "expose" and "cure" the disease. He added that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified that the measles virus had killed 1,000 people in the United States.

The measles outbreak in New York and the outbreak in Europe have raised concerns about vaccines, a major threat to public health. The vaccination of infants who are too young to receive the measles vaccine has led to outbreaks in some countries, and the United States has been among countries on the list.

In Israel, where the outbreak has been particularly violent, the outbreak has left at least 12 people dead, including the parents of two young children who died. The health ministry said it had identified an outbreak of measles in one of its hospitals.

Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.

In the United States, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that more than 70,000 children who have already received a measles vaccine are now at risk for respiratory complications.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

But health officials say this is not a real issue. The virus is not easily transmitted from person to person. In fact, people who have been exposed to the measles virus don't even know about it until they are exposed, the CDC said.