US measles outbreaks spread despite efforts to control infections

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here.The small measles outbreak that health officials are combating in Michigan began last month with an unvaccinated young woman returning home from visiting Florida, a state where there have been more than 140 cases this year. Her first symptoms around March 7 seemed like a cold. By the time the telltale measles rash appeared a few days later, she had exposed her family and scores of other people in public settings, according to health officials in Washtenaw County, near Detroit.The Michigan outbreak is one of 17 new outbreaks nationwide reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since January. There have been 1,671 confirmed cases of measles reported this year across 32 states, according to CDC data.Most of this year’s cases – 94% – have involved outbreaks. Some – like those in Texas and Florida – involve more than 100 infections. In a few, cases have surged into the hundreds, as is th