The CDC on Wednesday warned American residents to receive a measles vaccine before traveling to Europe and other global destinations.
Health officials with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have identified more than 14,000 cases of the measles since 2016. In the last year, 35 people across Europe have died from the measles. Since November 2016, the CDC has issued travel notices for five European nations with measles outbreaks:France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Romania.
"Most measles cases in the United States are the result of international travel," said Gary Brunette, MD, chief of CDC's travelers' health program. "Travelers get infected while abroad and bring the disease home. This can cause outbreaks here in the United States."
The measles is a highly communicable virus characterized by fever, runny nose, cough and a rash that spreads all over the body. Two doses of the mumps, measles, rubella vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing the measles, according to the CDC.
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