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WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO – The authorities on Curaçao embarked Saturday aboard a quarantined ship in the Caribbean island of the Netherlands to begin vaccinating the population to prevent a measles outbreak.
Health officials said that only people already vaccinated or having already had measles would be free to leave the ship Freewinds (134 meters), which would belong to the Church of Scientology.
Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth, an epidemiologist in Curacao, said a small team was evaluating more than 300 people aboard the ship and that the process could take more than one day.
"We will do our job," he said, adding that the authorities have an international obligation to prevent the spread of the disease. "If we allow this to happen, measles spreads to places where the risk of serious complications is much greater, especially when we are talking about poor countries where people have a lower level of resistance."
Authorities fear that people on board the ship have been exposed as a result of the measles diagnosis to a female crew member after her return from Europe. Gerstenbluth reported arriving in Curaçao on April 17 and visiting a doctor on April 22 for cold symptoms. A blood sample was taken and sent to Aruba, where authorities confirmed that it was a measles outbreak on April 29, a day after the ship's departure for St. Lucia. Curaçao's health officials then alerted the authorities in St. Lucia.
The Freewinds was quarantined in St. Lucia earlier this week before returning to its home port of Curacao on Saturday morning.
Gerstenbluth said it would be easy to spread the disease as it was a small ship.
"That's what happens when we do not vaccinate," he said.
Symptoms include runny nose, fever and a rash with red spots. Most people get better, but measles can cause pneumonia, swelling of the brain and even death in some cases.
Measles has sickened more than 700 people in 22 US states this year, federal officials say the resurgence of the disease is caused by misinformation about vaccines.
Church officials did not respond to calls for comment.
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