Highly contagious diseases, some that had been all but eradicated in the United States, are starting to resurface. One has proven to be deadly.
On March 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that “thanks to a strong childhood vaccination program, measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000.”
“Although overall childhood vaccination rates remain high in the U.S., measles still occurs frequently in other parts of the world,” it said further. “That’s especially true right now. The World Health Organization has noted a significant increase in measles cases worldwide, with a 30-fold increase in Europe. This includes popular international tourist destinations for Americans, like England.”
As outlined by the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed the first mumps vaccine in 1967. Prior to this, mumps had been “a common cause of deafness.”
In 1971, the vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella was combined into one vaccine (MMR). The combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella was licensed in 2005.
Prior to having the mumps vaccine available in the United States, the CDC says most children were infected with mumps before they reached adolescence.
Following the regular vaccinations of children (two doses of MMR) since 1967, the number of reported cases in the United States decreased by over 99 percent, falling from 152,209 cases in 1968 to 231 cases in 2003.
As for the plague, the CDC said the illness was “first introduced into the United States in 1900, by rat-infested steamships that had sailed from affected areas, mostly from Asia. Epidemics occurred in port cities.”
The United States has seen an average of seven human plague cases per year in recent decades, with a range of one to 17 cases. While most cases occur in people between the ages of 12 and 45, it can be contracted by men, women, and children of all ages.
Halfway into the third month of 2024, the United States has already recorded 45 confirmed cases of measles, one confirmed case of mumps along with eight suspected cases, and two cases of bubonic plague that ended in one death.
Measles
As of March 7, the CDC reported 45 cases of measles in 17 jurisdictions since the beginning of the year, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington.
For all of 2023, the CDC reported a total of 58 measles cases in 20 jurisdictions: California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
In California, the Sacramento County health department announced on March 8 that a child with measles was seen at the University of California–Davis Medical Center Emergency Department. On the same day, El Dorado County issued a similar statement saying the child had been transferred to UC Davis after being evaluated at San Joaquin Urgent Care.
El Dorado County officials estimated that 300 people may have been exposed to the infected child.
UC Davis spokesperson Liam Connolly told The Epoch Times in an email that the child had recently returned from traveling outside the country and that the health center was in the process of contacting those who were potentially exposed.
“UC Davis has a record of each patient and employee who was in the Emergency Department that day and notifications about potential exposure are taking place through the electronic medical records online messaging portal, letters, in person and over the phone,” he said. “Only those people deemed at risk of exposure that afternoon and evening are being contacted.”
Mumps
In a March 5 statement, the New Jersey Department of Health said it had already confirmed one case of measles this year and that it was “collaborating with local health departments to investigate eight suspected cases of mumps in one family cluster in Hunterdon County related to international travel.”
“No additional information is available due to privacy concerns,” it said.
According to the CDC, 50 cases of mumps were reported in 21 jurisdictions as of Feb. 29, with Texas reporting seven cases, Ohio reporting six cases, and Colorado reporting four cases. California, Nebraska, Oregon, Virginia, and Michigan each had three cases; Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania each reported two cases; and Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, New York City, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin each reported one case.
In 2023, the CDC reported a total of 436 cases of mumps, an increase over 2022 when 322 cases were reported. The greatest number of cases in the past 24 years was reported in 2006, when 6,584 cases were reported in the United States, followed by 2016, when 6,366 cases were reported. In 2019, 3,780 cases of mumps were reported. In 2020 the number dropped to 616 cases.
While the CDC considers mumps a serious illness, the agency says most people who contract it will “recover completely within two weeks.”
However, “mumps can occasionally cause complications, especially in adults,” the agency says. Those complications include “inflammation of the testicles” in men and “inflammation of the ovaries and/or breast tissue” in women. Other complications include inflammation in the pancreas, brain, and the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord. Mumps can also cause deafness.
The CDC recommends that children receive two doses of MMR vaccine, starting at 12 to 15 months of age and receiving the second dose between 4 to 6 years old. Teens and adults also should also be up to date on their MMR vaccination, the agency says.
However, the CDC also states that “mumps cases and outbreaks reported in the United States have increased since 2006,” with the majority of the cases being reported “in young adults and people who were vaccinated.”
Bubonic Plague
On Feb. 7, Deschutes County Health Services in Oregon confirmed a case of bubonic plague, saying the unidentified individual “was likely infected by their symptomatic pet cat.”
“All close contacts of the resident and their pet have been contacted and provided medication to prevent illness,” Deschutes County Health Officer Dr. Richard Fawcett said.
The most recent case of bubonic plague in Oregon was reported in 2015.
On March 8, the New Mexico Department of Health confirmed that a man from Lincoln County, New Mexico, had died after being hospitalized with the plague.
It was the first reported human case of the plague in New Mexico since 2021 and the first fatality since 2020.
Data from the CDC show that 496 cases of the plague were reported in the United States between 1970 and 2020, with most occurring in the rural West, 253 of which were reported in New Mexico.
As explained by the CDC, “Plague is an infectious disease that affects rodents, certain other animals, and humans.”
Most commonly, people become infected with the plague after being bitten by a flea that is contaminated with the Yersinia pestis bacteria. People can also contract the disease through direct contact with “infected tissues or fluids while handling an animal that is sick with or that has died from plague.”
People can also acquire the disease by “inhaling respiratory droplets after close contact with cats and humans with pneumonic plague.”
According to the CDC, vaccines for the plague “have been used since the late 19th century, but their effectiveness has never been measured precisely.”
“Field experience indicates that vaccination with plague vaccine reduces the incidence and severity of disease,” the agency said further. However, it said “the degree of protection afforded against primary pneumonic infection is not known.”