MEASLES OUTBREAKS: The Centers for Disease Control also advised all people born in or after 1981 to consult a doctor about vaccinations before traveling to high-risk regions
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2019
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Pregnant women and infants should temporarily avoid visiting Japan, as there have been
outbreaks of measles and rubella (German measles) there, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in an official warning yesterday.
A total of 148 measles cases were confirmed in Japan between Jan. 1 and Feb. 3, the highest number for the first five weeks of the year since 2013, with 49 cases in Mie Prefecture and 43 in Osaka Prefecture, the centers said.
About 2,900 cases of rubella were confirmed in Japan last year, the second-highest annual number in a decade, and the outbreak has continued to spread this year, the agency said.
Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 3, 367 cases of rubella were confirmed in Japan, with 101 cases in Tokyo Metropolis, 57 cases in Kanagawa Prefecture and 37 cases in Chiba Prefecture. [FULL STORY]