Earth Watch Report - Epidemic Hazard
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| 26.08.2013 | Epidemic Hazard | USA | State of Texas, [Texas-wide] |  |  |
Biohazard name: Measles
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| Description | |
| Texas health officials have issued a measles alert after more than a dozen cases reported this year compared to none in 2012. The Texas Department of State Health Services is urging immunization against the highly contagious illness. State health officials, based on figures released Friday, said Texas had 11 confirmed cases so far this year -- with six in the last week in Tarrant County. Tarrant County Public Health officials in Fort Worth later updated that number to report a total of nine cases. Dallas and Denton counties each reported two measles cases to the state, while Harris County has one. Agency officials say Texas had six reported cases of measles in 2011. Measles can be spread by contact with an infected person through coughing and sneezing. | |
| Biohazard name: | Measles |
| Biohazard level: | 2/4 Medium |
| Biohazard desc.: | Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. "Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures", see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | confirmed |
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| Updated: | Wednesday, 21 August, 2013 at 03:43 UTC |
| Description | |
| A North Texas community is on alert as the measles outbreak grows. The total number of verified cases is now up to 11 in Tarrant County. And as CBS 11 News reported first Monday night, all the cases can be tied to one man, at one church in the small city of Newark. While the measles cases may be centered at the Eagle Mountain International Church, that hasn't lessened the concern in the small surrounding community. Along with health officials, the folks who live work and worship in Newark are worried. Although health workers feel they've done a good job of tracking down those who have been in close contact with the infected patients, they made it clear they cannot rule out the possibility of a case popping up in the general population. The measles outbreak in Tarrant County now centers on the one city. Ben McCrary lives in Newark. The small, rural town has a population just over 1,000 people. "It's pretty scary especially since I hadn't heard anything about before and now boom its here!" he said. Health officials say all of the cases are linked to a man who traveled out of the country on a church-related trip. He went to Japan, China, France and Germany while doing mission work for Eagle Mountain International - a part Kenneth Copeland Ministries. | |
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| Updated: | Thursday, 22 August, 2013 at 04:36 UTC |
| Description | |
| Tarrant County health officials say Wednesday that 15 people have been confirmed to have contracted measles and that 11 of those people had not been immunized. Twelve of the infected have recovered from the illness. Those who are still infectious have been asked to remain at home. Health officials said there may be several other cases of measles under investigation that have not been confirmed and have not been added to the official tally. The cases include both children and adults who range in age from 4-months-old to 44-years-old. All of the infected children are home-schooled. Earlier Wednesday, health officials in Denton County confirmed they have five cases of measles in children ranging in age between 9-years-old and 17-years-old. None of the children were immunized , all live in the Justin area and the cases are believed to be related to the Tarrant County cases. Denton County also had two cases of measles earlier this year; those cases are not believed to be connected to the most recent outbreak. Officials said Tuesday morning that a North Texas church, the Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, may be at the center of the outbreak. Dr. Karen Smith confirmed the first measles case was from a person that visited the congregation a few weeks ago after returning from a trip to Asia. As of Monday, the church confirmed nine cases of measles were within their congregation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus. The disease of measles and the virus that causes it share the same name. The disease is also called rubeola. Measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and lungs." People with symptoms of measles have a fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. The incubation period of measles is about two weeks from exposure to the onset of a rash, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. People are contagious from four days before the onset of a rash to four days after the appearance of rash. The rash usually begins on the face and spreads to the trunk. It is spread through the air by breathing, coughing or sneezing and is so highly contagious that any child who is not immune and is exposed to the virus should expect to contract the virus. With that in mind, health officials are urging those who are susceptible to the disease to get immunized. | |
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| Updated: | Monday, 26 August, 2013 at 05:40 UTC |
| Description | |
| There has been a measles outbreak in Texas. It is believed to have started at the Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark. According to an August 25 report by the Las Vegas Guardian Express, the senior pastor of the church where the measles outbreak started is Terri Pearson, the daughter of Kenneth Copeland. It is believed that at least 25 people were infected with measles at the church. The outbreak was started by a visitor to the Eagle Mountain International Church who had recently been to a country where measles is common. There were nine children and six adults that were infected. One was a four-month-old baby that was too young to be immunized. Twelve of those infected had not been fully immunized. The other measles patients had no records of being vaccinated. The children who now have the measles are home schooled. Because of that, there is little chance of the measles spreading to the public schools in the area. Measles had been “officially eradicated” from the Western Hemisphere. Despite that, measles still slips in due to travel to countries where measles is common. Measles is making a comeback in the United States. There have been at least 135 documented cases this year. There was a time when up to 500 Americans died each year from the infection. | |
Latest measles outbreak tied to Texas megachurch
The latest measles outbreak is in Texas, where the virus has sickened 25 people, most of whom are members or visitors of a church led by the daughter of televangelist Kenneth Copeland.
Fifteen of the measles cases are centered around Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas, whose senior pastor, Terri Pearsons, has previously been critical of measles vaccinations.
The outbreak was started by a visitor to the church who had recently traveled to a country where measles remains common, according to Tarrant County Public Health spokesman Al Roy.
Those sickened by measles include nine children and six adults, ranging in age from 4 months old to 44 years old. At least 12 of those infected were not fully immunized against measles, Roy said. The other patients have no record of being vaccinated. The 4-month-old is too young to have been received the measles vaccine, which is typically given at 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This is a classic example of how measles is being reintroduced,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.
The U.S. has had more than twice as many confirmed measles cases this year than all of last year, when there were just 55, according to the CDC. Flare-ups brought on by foreign travel have caused that number to spike as high as 220 measles cases in 2011.
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