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W.Va. Officials Plan for Measles at World Scout Jamboree
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia state health officials and Boy Scout leaders say they’re preparing for the possibility that some children may bring measles to the World Scout Jamboree this summer.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports officials are encouraging measles vaccinations for the 45,000 Scouts and leaders expected to travel across the world and country to attend.
The state hasn’t had a confirmed measles case since 2009. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 23 states had 839 total confirmed measles cases as of May 10.
The preventable disease was declared eliminated in 2000. The CDC says this is the greatest number of measles cases the country has seen since 1994.
Scout leaders say seemingly sick individuals will be examined before event admittance and an outbreak would lead to a quarantine.