The Arizona Department of Health Services, Maricopa County Department of Public Health and Pinal County Public Health Services District announce the end of a three month measles outbreak. The 22 confirmed cases originated from a private detention facility in Eloy, Arizona.
The outbreak infected 13 detainees and nine staff members from the facility. All but one of the cases were reported out of Pinal County with one case reported in Maricopa County. Health officials continue to investigate the index case, or first case of measles, in the facility.
“This was a challenging outbreak involving several key partners,” said Thomas Schryer, director of the Pinal County Public Health Services District. “We were able to bring this outbreak to its conclusion because staff stepped up and received vaccination.”
Public health employees worked tirelessly to investigate the series of measles infected individuals, identify points of community contact, and vaccinate individuals working at the detention facility to stop the outbreak. Daily updates were posted to the website azhealth.gov/measlesoutbreak along with areas of possible public exposure and resources available for clinicians, school nurses, residents and media.
“The intensive work our disease detectives performed during this outbreak helped us to track areas of public exposure, quickly publish that information, and stop further spread into the community,” said Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by the measles virus. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough, loss of appetite, “pink eye,” and a rash. Before the routine vaccination program was introduced in the United States, measles was a common illness in infants, children and young adults. Because most people have now been vaccinated, measles has become a rare disease in the United States.
“This outbreak is a reminder of why we need people to stay up to date on their immunizations, and why it’s also important that institutions assure the vaccination status of their employees,” says Dr. Bob England, director, Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
The best way to prevent measles is through two doses of MMR (measles-‐mumps-‐rubella) vaccine given according to the recommended schedule. Please contact your healthcare provider to ensure that you and your family are up to date on your vaccinations. A complete list of resources and information on measles is available at azhealth.gov/measles.