| Printable Copy |
 |
| Printable Copy |
|
Risk Anal. 2015 Jun 22. doi: 10.1111/risa.12440. [Epub ahead of print]
Thompson KM1,2, Kisjes KH1.
Measles outbreaks in the United States continue to occur in subpopulations with sufficient numbers of under vaccinated individuals, with a 2014 outbreak in Amish communities in Ohio pushing the annual cases to the highest national number reported in the last 20 years. We adapted an individual-based model developed to explore potential poliovirus transmission in the North American Amish to characterize a 1988 measles outbreak in the Pennsylvania Amish and the 2014 outbreak in the Ohio Amish. We explored the impact of the 2014 outbreak response compared to no or partial response. Measles can spread very rapidly in an under immunized subpopulation like the North American Amish, with the potential for national spread within a year or so in the absence of outbreak response. Vaccination efforts significantly replique breitling reduced the transmission of measles and the expected number of cases. Until global eradication, measles importations will continue to pose a threat to clusters of under immunized individuals in the United States. Aggressive outbreak response efforts in Ohio probably prevented widespread transmission of measles within the entire North American Amish.
© 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.