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The White House said on Friday that the United States had temporarily suspended flights of Afghan evacuees to the country after four cases of measles among recent arrivals – in a move it described as “out of caution.”
“Operation Allies Welcome” flights to the United States have been temporarily suspended at the request of the [Centers for Disease Control] and out of caution because of four diagnosed cases of measles among Afghans recently arrived in the United States, “Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, told reporters.
FORT MCCOY AFFECTED BY MEASLES CASE AT THE HEART OF AFGHAN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT EFFORTS
She said people were being quarantined and the CDC had started full contact tracing. In addition, all arriving Afghans must be vaccinated against the disease as a condition of entry into the United States.
The Associated Press previously reported that a “” health security problem “interrupted flights from Qatar and Germany There are nearly 10,000 evacuees at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany.
Fox News first reported on Tuesday that the Fort McCoy military base in Wisconsin, one of several bases involved in handling Afghan refugees, had identified a case of measles. An internal government email, viewed by Fox News, said the base confirmed a case of measles on Sunday.
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“All those who had been in contact with the originally infected person have been isolated, and post-exposure prophylaxis and inoculations are underway,” the advisory said.
Separately, a senior U.S. government official confirmed to Fox News that officials identified a single case of measles as part of what they called a robust medical screening process.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describe measles as a “highly contagious” virus that can be spread by coughing, sneezing, and by people breathing contaminated air or touching infected surfaces and then their faces.
He says the virus is so contagious that if a person has it, up to 90% of people close to that person who are not immune will also be infected, and the virus can live for up to two hours in a space. air even after an infected person has left the area.
THE PENTAGON OPENS MORE MILITARY BASES IN THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN AFGHAN REFUGEES
According to CDC, Afghanistan has the seventh highest number of measles cases in the world.
Psaki said on Friday that the United States was also exploring efforts to vaccinate evacuees while they were still overseas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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