Measles outbreak continues to spread from US to Canada: Diseases know no borders
Dr.Hector Ocaranza knew El Paso would see measles the moment it began spreading in West Texas and eastern New Mexico.Highways connect his border city with the epicenter of Texas’ massive outbreak, which is up to 663 cases.
They’re the same roads used by thousands of families and commercial truckers who cross into Mexico and back each day.“Diseases know no borders,” said Ocaranza, El Paso’s top public health doctor, “so as people are mobile, they’re going to be coming and receiving medical attention in El Paso but they may be living in Juarez.” It took a couple of months, but El Paso now has the highest measles case count in the state outside of West Texas with 38.Neighboring Ciudad Juarez has 14 cases as of Monday.North America’s three biggest measles outbreaks continue to balloon, with more than 2,500 known cases; three people have died in the U.S.
and one in Mexico.It started in the fall in Ontario, Canada; then took off in late January in Texas and New Mexico; and has rapidly spread in Chihuahua state, which is up to 786 cases since mid-February.These outbreaks are in areas with a notable population of certain Mennonite Christian communities who trace their migration over generations from Canada to Mexico to Seminole, Texas.
Chihuahua health officials trace their first case to an 8-year-old Mennonite child who visited family in Seminole, got sick and spread the virus at school.And Ontario officials say their outbreak started at a large gathering in New Brunswick involving Mennonite communities.Mexican and U.S.
officials also say the genetic strains of measles spreading in Canada match the other large outbreaks.“This virus was imported, traveling country to country,” said Leticia Ruíz, director of prevention and disease control in Chihuahua.North and South American countries have struggled to maintain the 95% measles vaccination rate needed to prevent outbreaks, said Dr.Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organi...