The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a ‘health alert’ on Monday due to increased measles cases in the United States.

“There had been 58 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. this year as of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, compared to 58 in all of 2023,” NBC News reports.

The public health agency said health providers should “ensure” that international travelers get inoculated against the illness.

Too bad for the public health agency that trust in them is at an all-time-low.

From The Epoch Times:

Of the 58 cases reported across the United States in 2o24, about 93 percent are connected “to international travel,” the CDC said Monday. It said that most of the cases are reported in children aged 12 months and older who have not received a measles vaccine.

“To prevent measles infection and reduce the risk of community transmission from importation, all U.S. residents traveling internationally, regardless of destination, should be current on their MMR vaccinations,” the CDC said, referring to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine that is commonly administered across the world.

“Many countries, including travel destinations such as Austria, the Philippines, Romania, and the United Kingdom, are experiencing measles outbreaks,” the agency also warned.

But due to “currently high population immunity against measles in most U.S. communities, the risk of widescale spread is low,” the health alert said. “However, pockets of low coverage leave some communities at higher risk for outbreaks.”

Unsurprisingly, mainstream outlets urged people get vaccinated for measles and said those unvaccinated are higher risk of contracting the illness.

Per NBC News:

There are also outbreaks in other countries, including Austria and the United Kingdom, so everyone of any age traveling to any international destination should be current on their vaccinations, the agency said in the advisory.

Measles is highly contagious, and unvaccinated people have a 90% chance of becoming infected if they are exposed.

Late last month there was a large outbreak in Florida, and in January there was one in Philadelphia.

It can also be fatal. In 2021, an estimated 128,000 people, most of whom were children, died from the disease, the World Health Organization says.

It estimates that 56 million deaths were averted by vaccination worldwide from 2000 to 2021.

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, which means no continuous disease transmission for greater than 12 months or not constantly present in the country, according to the agency.

The U.S. retains its “eliminated” status, but in 2019 there was a 27-year high, with 1,274 cases. Those outbreaks were all travel-related cases that then infected people who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated in the U.S., the CDC has said.

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