Health authorities in Chicago, Illinois, reported a second case of measles in the city Friday, this time in the same migrant shelter where a five-year-old boy died in December.
Officials say the child of an illegal border crosser had contracted the communicable disease, but it wasn’t detected until after the child was already non-contagious, meaning the entire 1,876 migrants in the shelter had been exposed to the disease for weeks prior to the announcement, NewsNation reported Friday.
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It makes the second case of measles found in the Windy City since 2019.
The outbreak was discovered in the large shelter inside a converted warehouse in the Pilsen neighborhood, the same facility where five-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez-Rivero took ill and died in December 2023.
Chicago’s 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez said the immediate concern is to alert all those with whom the infected child may have come in contact with over the previous month.
“Right now, with this potential exposure to a rapidly spreading virus such as measles, it’s critical to have an isolation plan,” Alderman Sigcho-Lopez said. “People need to be in isolation while they are being tested and will learn more of the assessment while people are sheltering in place, and we will wait for the results of the tests.”
Run by a private firm hired by the city, migrants stay in a makeshift shelter at O’Hare International Airport, September 20, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
The city is also reportedly now attempting to ascertain which vaccinations the shelter residents have taken and when they took them to assess what risk they are to city residents and to each other.
Measles, often called a “childhood disease” because children are most susceptible (but are by no means the only group at risk), begins with symptoms including a high fever, a cough, red and watery eyes, and runny nose. From there white spots may appear in the mouth, and later a rash on the skin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Small, raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots, and this is when the disease is most communicable. It can be passed by touch as well as through the air from coughing and sneezing.
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The virus can live floating around in the airspace for up to two hours after an infected person has left the area.
Measles outbreaks have exploded in the U.S. in 2024.
Since February 29, 41 cases have been reported in 16 U.S. states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, according to WMAQ-TV.
Meanwhile, only 58 cases were reported for all of 2023.
Migrants line up as they wait for a bus to Chicago to transport them out of Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 26, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Illinois Department of Public Health released a statement informing the public that the shelter residents are being assessed for vaccination status:
In response to a confirmed case of measles in a young child at a new arrivals shelter in the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois has convened a working group of State agency leaders to support the City in ongoing efforts to assess conditions at the shelter and vaccinate and test residents.
At the direction of Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS), Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and other departments are collaborating to mobilize resources needed to support Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the City of Chicago.
The State is already assisting by sending a medical team staffer to the shelter to assist with the assessment, providing testing resources, and providing supplies of the highly effective measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine. According to the CDC, one dose of MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles and two doses are 97% effective, if exposed.
“Most residents of Chicago and Illinois were vaccinated routinely in childhood and therefore not at high risk. Of most concern are people who have not been vaccinated. MMR vaccine is available at most medical provider’s offices and pharmacies. Illinois children as young as 7 years old can get the MMR shot at pharmacies under Illinois law,” the department concluded.
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