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A man from an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, NY, went to Michigan without knowing he was infected with measles – a highly contagious respiratory infection that infected more than 500 people in the United States this year.
The man, who has not been identified and has since been nicknamed "Patient Zero," recently traveled to Detroit to raise money for a charity in the Brooklyn community, first reported the Washington Post. Although he felt ill and saw a doctor when he arrived in Detroit (he reportedly drove all night to his destination), his fever and cough were initially diagnosed as bronchitis.
In the following weeks, the man who had fled Israel to Brooklyn in November before traveling to Detroit in March unknowingly spread measles to at least 39 people. Almost all cases were reported among people living in the suburb of Detroit, Oakland County, where the man spent most of his time.
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At one point, the man would have called the doctor again after developing a rash, a key symptom of measles. But it would have been dismissed as an allergic reaction.
But the doctor, who was not identified at the time, began to fear that the man had contracted something more serious. He called the health department and left a voice message containing the man's phone number. The health department officials, however, could not reach the man because there was "a problem with his cell phone," according to the Washington Post.
The man was eventually found, thanks to the help of members of the Jewish community and Steve McGraw, Oakland Emergency Medical Services Manager.
"There is only one disease, and you have it," McGraw told the man when he was located, he reminded the newspaper. "He lowered his head and was very emotional. I could tell his face that he was devastated. "
"He was doing the math in his head" to determine the number of people he had been in contact with on his trip, McGraw said. "This guy was walking around the community and was contagious. We knew our exposure was really significant, "he added.
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The man visited about 30 locations about a week later and probably had contact with "hundreds" of members of the local ultra-Orthodox community.
"Each of our cases had a connection with the original case," said Washington Post Leigh-Anne Stafford, Oakland County's health officer. A blood test later confirmed that the man was suffering from measles.
The strain that the man contracted "had an epidemiological link with a measles outbreak in Brooklyn, New York," said Lynn Sutfin, information officer at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. , in an email on Wednesday.
"The additional cases have an epidemiological link with the [man’s] cases or places of exhibition, "she added.
After the official diagnosis of the man, Oakland County health officials said they have vaccinated more than 2,000 people in the ultra-orthodox community against measles.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday that 555 cases of measles had been confirmed this year, against 465 a week ago.
While 20 states have reported cases, New York has been the epicenter. Nearly two-thirds of all cases occurred in New York, and 85% of last week's cases came from the state. Most cases in New York involve unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities.
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The 2019 count is already the highest since 2014, when 667 were reported. The highest number of cases previously was 963 in 1994.
The CDC recommends that all children receive two doses of measles vaccine, 97% effective.
Among the other states reporting measles cases this year, note Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas and Washington. After the CDC released its report Monday morning, Iowa officials said they too had witnessed one case.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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