Two Measles Cases in Germany Possibly Linked to US
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iStock/Thinkstock(BERLIN) — A spike in measles infections in Germany has been linked to unvaccinated refugees, but the country says at least two cases may have come from the United States.
According to German news agency Deutsche Welle, Berlin has seen 347 cases of measles since the beginning of 2015. That figure is more than twice as high as the number of cases seen in the entirety of 2014.
Deutsche Welle says Dr. Dirk Werber of Berlin’s state health office said one of the cases linked to the U.S. involved a woman who had symptoms before traveling to Germany, while the second individual developed the infection after returning from America.
Measles, which had been eliminated in the U.S. since 2000, has infected more than 100 people in 17 states since January 1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease, while eliminated in America, still exists in other nations and can be spread — particularly to unvaccinated individuals — through coughing, sneezing, or contact with a surface on which an infected person has coughed or sneezed.
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