About 84 percent of fatal measles cases during a recent major outbreak at a Chicago migrant center are linked to Venezuelan immigrants, a new CDC report shows.
New information shows that the surge of 57 cases in Pilsen’s migrant reception center has been traced back to a one-year-old boy who had received only one of the two essential vaccines.
The majority of cases — 72 percent — involved unvaccinated people, the CDC said.
The report cites overcrowding at the center for rampant spreading, with reportedly 500 people crammed into one room.
Chicago is at the epicenter of the measles outbreak in the US, with 64 cases recorded so far
Migrants pictured in a makeshift shelter in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, where many are being transferred. There has been an outbreak of measles and tuberculosis linked to the shelter
The first patient had arrived in the US less than five months before becoming ill. He had received one dose of the MMR vaccine five weeks before his result.
He had no recent travel history or known exposure to measles and was taken to the hospital on February 27.
The Chicago Department of Public Health was notified of the case a few days later and hosted a vaccination event for the shelter’s residents and staff the next day.
Due to the highly contagious nature of measles, they assumed that anyone who had been at the shelter between February 22 and 27 (the boy’s contagious period) had been exposed to measles.
Between February 26 and May 13, there were 57 confirmed cases linked to the shelter, including 52 among migrants staying at the shelter and three among staff members.
The average age of infected migrants was three years old, and most were originally from Venezuela. Four came from Peru, two from Ecuador, one from Chile and another whose country of origin was unknown.
Since August 2022, approximately 41,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago, Illinois from the U.S. southern border.
Of those, 88 percent come from Venezuela – a country that has recently seen a decline in routine childhood vaccination rates, including the measles vaccine.
The increase in migrants comes as Chicago continues to brand itself as a “sanctuary city,” or a location where people can seek help from city services without disclosing their immigration status.
Officials also do not ask residents whether they have a legal right to be in the US.
About 30 of the 57 cases at the Pilsen center were women and 27 were men. Most patients were between six months and four years old, followed by 20-49 years old.
Measles usually starts with cold symptoms, before causing a rash consisting of small red spots, some of which may feel slightly swollen
The Pilsen migrant shelter is the largest in Chicago and housed about 2,100 people at the end of February, with some rooms housing more than 500 people.
Migrants themselves have said that diseases are widespread in the shelters due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
About 130 Americans have been struck by measles this year, amid warnings that falling vaccination rates and rising immigration are making American children more vulnerable to the disease than ever before.
The CDC says babies should get their first dose of the measles vaccine between the ages of 12 and 15 months, and their second dose between the ages of four and six years.
Research shows that the first dose is 93 percent effective against the virus, while the second dose is 97 percent effective.
Vaccinated people can still get sick, doctors say, but they have a much milder infection because they already have immunity.
Dr. Thomas Moore, an infectious disease expert, previously told DailyMail.com: ‘If you want to create a public health crisis, put people in crowded spaces.’
Overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and limited access to vaccines in migrants’ home countries can all cause and worsen outbreaks in shelters, he said.
Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, meaning the disease is no longer persistently present in the country.
The U.S. measles elimination status was threatened in 2019 due to two long-term outbreaks among under-vaccinated communities in New York.
According to the CDC, MMR vaccine coverage dropped by another two percent between the 2019-2021 school year and the 2022-2023 school year, meaning about a quarter of a million U.S. preschoolers are at risk of measles infection.
The 93.1 percent rate during the 2022-2023 school year is lower than the 95 percent rate in the 2019-2020 school year, leaving measles coverage below the national goal of 95 percent for the third year in a row.