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The Caribbean nation of St. Lucia has quarantined a cruise ship on the island after identifying a confirmed case of measles on board, said a health official.
Merlene Fredericks-James, the country's chief medical officer, said Tuesday that passengers and crew aboard the big ship were not allowed to leave the ship. The highly contagious disease, which can be prevented by joint vaccination, is at the heart of its largest epidemic in a quarter of a century in the United States, with more than 700 cases reported.
"Due to the risk of potential infection, not only from the case of confirmed measles, but also from other people who might be on the boat at that time, we considered it prudent to make the decision not to allow anyone to land 'statement.
Dr. Fredericks-James did not name the ship. But Victor Theodore, a coastguard sergeant from St. Lucia, told NBC News that he had been identified as being "Freewinds", which would belong to the Church of Scientology.
A ship called Freewinds was moored in St. Lucia on Thursday morning, according to the online records. The Church of Scientology did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
According to the church's website, Scientologists use prescription drugs and are treated by doctors, but the church has not expressed any specific position regarding immunization. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, the church said that she "does not take a stand on this subject," despite the fact that several high-profile celebrities in the church are are raised against vaccines.
John Carmichael, president of the Church of Scientology of New York, told the Beliefnet website in 2006 that the church had not taken a stand on vaccinations "as a religious principle."
"Scientologists are quite independent people, but I will say this: they tend to do a little more research, perhaps on the effects of various medical or other procedures," he said. "They make their own decisions, but these are not decisions that the church tries to influence in any way."
Scientology announces that the 300-meter cruise ship based in Curacao, off the coast of Venezuela, is home to "a religious retreat serving the most advanced level of spiritual counseling in the religion of Scientology" and "the summit of". a deep spiritual journey. "It is used to perform" humanitarian missions "around the world, said the church.
"The Freewinds is a very special place" the church website said. "This is the only place where a Scientologist can go and be certain to be able to devote himself entirely to his religious practice and in the company of people sharing his religious commitment and his vision of life in general."
In 2011, an Australian declared that she had been held against her will on the ship for years, which the church denied.
A single person infected with measles can easily pass it on to other unvaccinated people. A quarantined woman endangered dozens of moviegoers in Fullerton, California, attending a screening of "Avengers: Endgame" last week.
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