The zero patient of the measles outbreak in Michigan is believed to be immune:

The man who would have brought the measles outbreak to Michigan thought that he was immune to the disease, according to a doctor who spoke with him.

The man, who was not identified but who would have been the "zero patient" in Michigan, traveled to the state of Grand Lake from New York in March.

The man had already been to the United States from Israel in November, making it unlikely that he was infected at the time, and more likely caught by the disease in New York, according to Steve McGraw, director of emergency medical services in Oakland County, Michigan, spoke to him a few days after his diagnosis.

It is not clear if the man is an American citizen.

Hundreds of measles cases have been confirmed in New York since the beginning of the epidemic in 2018 and this, until 2019.

During the approximately 15-hour drive between New York and Michigan, the man felt well, but "he got sick on arrival, started having fever, cough, and headaches," he said. McGraw said. He added that at the beginning of March, it was not unusual for Michigan residents to experience these symptoms.

After seeking the advice of a doctor, the man was diagnosed with bronchitis, but according to McGraw, the man came back the next day. It is at this point that the doctor worried when he saw a rash on the man's face.

The doctor "did a heroic thing and called the department of health," McGraw said. The officials then had trouble finding the measles-infected man because he "had no reliable cell phone" and "did not really follow a route".

McGraw said the patient was raising funds on behalf of Jewish Orthodox charities and that he "sometimes participated in three different synagogues a day".

McGraw, who is also the medical director of the Hatzalah of the Detroit area, who is an emergency medical service for orthodox Jews, has met him. After contacting him through a translator – because the man did not read or speak English – McGraw was able to tell him that "it was definitely measles".

"He was really upset," McGraw said. "He really did not know that he had been sick that way, especially since it had been contagious."

The outbreak in Oakland County, Michigan, began in mid-March and 39 cases have since been confirmed. There have also been three other individual cases of measles in three other counties.

Michigan is one of 20 states where measles cases have been confirmed this year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 555 confirmed cases nationwide.

Many of those linked to epidemics have links to communities with low immunization rates, and the Orthodox Jewish communities in New York have been hit hard.

McGraw said the Orthodox Jewish community of Oakland County was very willing to deal with the measles epidemic and to vaccinate individuals. The rabbis worked with local synagogues to open vaccination clinics, which led "hundreds and hundreds of people to line up just to get vaccinated," McGraw said.

The person who introduced the disease in Michigan suffered from what McGraw said was a common misconception – the man, who was in his forties or fifties, thought that he was immune to the disease because he had declared her younger.

"He was told that he was immune because he had measles [when he was younger]that's why, initially, he completely ignored his [the doctor’s] suggestion, "said McGraw.

"I know people who thought they were completely immune because they had measles, and then a day and a half," McGraw said, referring to other cases.

The timing and widespread deployment of measles vaccine can also play a role in the total immunity of a person. Before 1989, doctors usually only issued one vaccine, but after that date, two measles vaccines became the norm. Immunization is 93% effective and two to 97% effective, according to the CDC.

McGraw advises to be vaccinated once again if it is question of whether you have received two doses or not.

"Nothing is as good as certainty, unless you know you've had two, get a second," McGraw said.

The CDC considers anyone who has had two doses of the child as being protected for life from the disease, and said that the adults needed only one dose, but there are some where a second dose for adults would be useful.

"Adults who are in an environment at high risk of measles transmission should be sure to have received two doses at least 28 days apart," reads the website. CDC. "These adults include students from post-secondary institutions, medical staff and international travelers."