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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today recommended a temporary suspension of adoption proceedings for children from the Zhuzhou Child Welfare Institute in the Hunan Province of China, which is experiencing an outbreak of measles.

Complete news release from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r040416.htm)
 

April 15, 2004 Measles Update

A measles outbreak has affected adoptive families in King and Snohomish Counties in Washington, and testing conducted at the Washington State Department of Health Public Health Laboratories has confirmed measles has been confirmed in seven of these Washington adoptees: one child from Snohomish County and six children from King County.

There were 12 children in the group, eight of whom now live in Washington. One child in the Washington group did not have measles symptoms. Of the remaining four children, one child in Maryland and one child in New York state have confirmed measles. A child in Alaska and another child in Florida are not suspected of having measles. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are involved in the multi-state investigation.

Several children were ill with probable measles when they traveled from China to Seattle March 26, 2004, and it is possible that they exposed passengers on the same flights to measles virus. Measles may be prevented in people who are not immune by giving vaccine or medication within six days of exposure, but these cases of measles were recognized too late to provide treatment to those who may have been exposed on the airline flights.

These flights, all on March 26, 2004, were:

• United Flight # 862 from Hong Kong to San Francisco,
• Cathay Pacific Flight # CX 872 from Hong Kong to San Francisco,
• United Flight # 476 from San Francisco to Seattle and
• United Flight # 794 from San Francisco to Seattle.

People who are not immune to measles who were on these flights need to know that they may have been exposed to measles. People are considered immune to measles if they:

• Were born before 1957, or
• Are adequately vaccinated against measles:
  • Preschool age: one dose of measles-containing vaccine (usually given as measles-mumps-rubella [MMR]) after the first birthday
  • School age and older: two doses of measles-containing vaccine after the first birthday, or
• Have laboratory tests that show they are immune (measles antibody titer).

Anyone who traveled on these flights and develops fever and/or rash before April 17, 2004 should call their healthcare provider and let them know they may have been exposed to measles and are now sick. Be sure to call first so your provider is aware you are coming and may have measles.

Washington State Department of Health Measles information:

• Measles fact sheet

The CDC Web site has additional information on measles.

• Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine fact sheet

Possible exposure location information in King County is available on:

• The Public Health - Seattle and King County Web site and

• The Snohomish County on the Snohomish Health District Web site.

Anyone one year of age and older who is susceptible to measles should talk with their healthcare provider about being immunized for protection against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

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