CDC Sends Team to Battle Measles Outbreak at Crowded Chicago Migrant Shelter With Four New Cases in Past Few Days
A packed migrant shelter in Chicago with over 1,800 residents (including 95 children two years old and younger) is experiencing a measles outbreak that has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to dispatch a team to help battle the outbreak. The team is expected to arrive on Tuesday. Two children and two adults have been diagnosed with measles in the past few days. One child has recovered, the other is in the hospital in good condition. The two adults, diagnosed Monday, are reported in stable condition. A fifth unrelated case popped up elsewhere in Chicago last week.
A mass vaccination effort took place at the Pilsen migrant shelter over the weekend with about 900 migrants getting the MMR vaccine. Approximately 700 migrants were assessed as having already been vaccinated or exposed to measles and were not required to be quarantined. Some unvaccinated migrants reportedly broke quarantine and left the shelter, according to a statement by Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige, MD, MPH:
“We have advised all unvaccinated and newly vaccinated residents of the quarantine period (21 days) but some of those residents have left the shelter, and I want to acknowledge that,” Dr. Ige said. “That is why we so strongly advise the unvaccinated to get the vaccine and to immediately quarantine if you have had contact with anyone with measles.”
CDPH Commissioner Dr. Ige talks about the measles cases in Chicago.
For resources on measles: https://t.co/jRqcfaMHz8#Measles #MMR #PublicHealth pic.twitter.com/aRjDv8uKGk
— CDPH | Chicago Department of Public Health (@ChiPublicHealth) March 10, 2024
La subcomisionada del Buró de Protección de Salud, Maribel Chavez-Torres, habla sobre los casos de sarampión en Chicago y la importancia de la vacunación.https://t.co/eHAGBrrEmD pic.twitter.com/Rwgny1Ordj
— CDPH | Chicago Department of Public Health (@ChiPublicHealth) March 10, 2024