Pennsylvania has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for emergency field assistance as the state’s measles outbreak reached 731 confirmed cases across 38 counties, including 141 hospitalizations and four measles-associated deaths.
Health Secretary Debra Bogen began the process for a CDC “Epi-Aid” in a letter sent Wednesday, according to Reuters, which reviewed the request. An Epi-Aid typically sends federal epidemiologists to support state and local agencies for one to three weeks during an urgent public-health investigation.
The request is not unconditional. Bogen wrote that Pennsylvania would withdraw it if the CDC does not publicly recognize the four fatalities the state has classified as measles-associated deaths. The federal Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that it had not received the request through its normal channels and argued that outbreak assistance should be separate from the federal method for counting deaths. Those competing positions leave the timing and scope of any CDC deployment unresolved.
Outbreak has spread across the commonwealth
The latest Pennsylvania Department of Health update, issued Wednesday, reported 38 new cases since September 14, bringing the cumulative total to 731. Only four cases — less than 1% — were among vaccinated people. State officials also reported 141 hospitalizations and said the two most recently confirmed deaths involved unvaccinated residents of Jefferson and Mifflin counties.
The department said its classifications followed investigations conducted with the two county coroners. Those reviews included a positive laboratory test, clinical evidence of measles and a finding that the death was not attributable to an unrelated cause. The Associated Press reported that Pennsylvania’s four fatalities included an 18-year-old Mifflin County resident, a 40-year-old Jefferson County woman and two infants in Lancaster County. State officials said none was vaccinated; the infants were too young for vaccination under current recommendations.
What residents should do
Pennsylvania says two documented doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine provide 97% lifetime protection and that people with two doses do not need another. Adults with one documented dose, or who cannot locate their records, should ask a health-care provider or pharmacist whether they need vaccination. State health centers have administered more than 6,800 MMR doses this year, including nearly 4,400 at 140 pop-up clinics in affected communities.
The CDC describes measles as highly contagious: as many as nine in 10 unprotected people exposed through close contact can become infected, and the virus can remain in a room’s air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves. Symptoms commonly begin seven to 14 days after exposure and include high fever, cough, runny nose, red or watery eyes and a rash.
Anyone who believes they were exposed and develops symptoms should contact a provider before arriving for care so the facility can limit additional exposure. Pennsylvania also operates the 877-PA-HEALTH hotline and maintains a statewide measles dashboard with county case, hospitalization and vaccination information.
