Outbreak Investigation
Investigation on the First Measles Outbreak in 2014
Chyi-Mei Lai, Ying-Ying Tsai, Min-Nan Hung, Mei-Ju Chen, Chiou-Yueh You, Chao-Ching Chang
2014 Vol.30 NO.10
Correspondence Author： Chyi-Mei Lai
- Kaohsiung-Pingtung Regional Center, Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan
Abstract：
A nine-month-old baby girl was notified as a measles case on Feb 13, 2014; the diagnosis was confirmed by laboratory testing the next day. Further investigation revealed that the twin sister of this case, with symptoms onset early on Jan 28, 2014, also had measles. The travel history found that both went to the Philippines with mother on Dec15, 2013 and returned to Taiwan on Jan 19, 2014. Based on the travel history and phylogenetic analysis, this measles household cluster was classified as imported cases.
In response to this cluster, 1096 contacts were identified and instructed to monitor their health status until 18 days after exposure. Twenty-nine subjects including 28 children less than 1 year old and one pregnant woman were given IMIG. No more measles cases were identified as of Mar 3. Since measles is a highly contagious disease, prompt identification and management of susceptible contacts, as what we did for this cluster, would be valuable for halting the spreading of measles.
