About thee months have passed since I first reported that the latest attraction offered at Disneyland, “the happiest place on Earth”, was measles.
It appears that particular infection has burnt itself out.
The measles outbreak that affected more than 130 Californians since December is over, the California Department of Public Health declared Friday.It has been 42 days since the last known case of B3 strain of measles, the equivalent of two successive incubation periods, said Dr. Karen Smith, director of the health department.The department said in its latest update that 131 people came down with the B3 strain, and five who had a different genotype than the outbreak strain.Of the 131 cases, the state was able to obtain the vaccination status for 81 patients. Of the 81, 70% were unvaccinated.
I will stress that 30% of those infections were among those who had received MMR immunizations, so I will urge Legal Insurrection readers to review their vaccination profiles with their health care providers to determine if booster shots are necessary.
And while this outbreak has officially ended, heated debate between vaccination proponents and “anti-vaxxers” in the Golden State continues.
…Legislation in Sacramento intended to induce more parents to get their children the measles vaccine and other shots stalled this week amid an outcry from anti-immunization forces who said the government should not tell parents what to do.The debate on the bill has turned contentious. Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading anti-vaccine activist, used the word “holocaust” during a film screening to describe the purported damage done by vaccines to many recipients, a statement for which he later apologized.State Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician who is pushing for greater vaccination, has been bombarded with personal attacks. One Internet posting imposed a Hitler mustache on Pan’s face; another said: “Can we hang Pan with a noose instead?”…
Truly, California is the home of subtle politics.
Meanwhile, across the globe, the World Bank is set to give West Africa a cash transfusion of $300 Million toward economic recovery following the epidemic of Ebola that raged through the area.
However, Africa is not done with strange and deadly diseases. A deadly illness that targets the central nervous system has broken out in Nigeria.
A “mysterious” disease has killed at least 18 people in the past several days in south-eastern Nigeria, local officials say.The outbreak started in the Ode-Irele town, Ondo state, and spread rapidly.The disease – characterised by blurred vision, headache and loss of consciousness – killed the victims within 24 hours of falling ill.Local health officials and World Health Organization experts are now in the town to try to identify the disease.Laboratory tests have so far ruled out Ebola or any other virus, Ondo government spokesman Kayode Akinmade was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
In fact, the illness is being called “worse than Ebola”. An update from Nigeria indicates that the death toll is up to 30 and that panic is spreading through the region.
Nigeria looks like this week’s frontrunner for “scariest place on Earth.”
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