The CDC is reporting the worst measles outbreak in the United States since 2001. There have been 64 cases of measles reported so far in 2008, spanning across 9 states. All but one of the cases have been in people who were unvaccinated.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that used to be very common in the United States. However, because of effective vaccination programs, it was declared eradicated in 2000. This means that no more cases were being reported that originated in the United States.

The outbreaks this year have all been linked to people who caught the disease outside of the country. 10 cases were confirmed as being transmitted while individuals were abroad and the rest seem to be connected to those cases.

These outbreaks have shown us how important our vaccination programs still are to our country. Although measles is not a widespread threat in our country, there are still 20 million cases reported each year worldwide, so it is far from being gone. It is a serious illness that can cause permanent disabilities or death. If more people begin to decline vaccinations, the threat of outbreaks like this will increase and these illnesses will return.