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CDC deploys epidemiologist to help Pennsylvania respond to measles surge
More than 1,200 people in Pennsylvania have contracted measles this year, and six deaths have been associated with the disease. A CDC investigator is expected to arrive later this week for an investigation that could last up to three weeks.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigator is expected in Pennsylvania later this week to help state and local officials respond to a measles outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people this year.
The cases are concentrated largely in Lancaster, Mifflin and Chester counties. Six measles-associated deaths have been reported in the state this year.
The CDC says the investigation may take as long as three weeks. The agency’s scientist will provide technical assistance as officials address what medical authorities have described as an urgent public health problem.
The deployment comes as Pennsylvania confronts its largest measles outbreak in decades. The CDC investigation will add federal support to efforts to assess and contain the spread, though no further details about the team’s work were announced in the information available Friday.