Multinational Measles Outbreak in Post-Elimination Era, Involves Three Countries of North America and a European Country in a Short Transmission Chain

Abstract

Background: Four measles cases in Canada and one in the United States are linked to international importation of measles in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Objective: To describe characteristics of transmission and not spillover to local population in Mexico. Material and Methods: The outbreak investigation was based on active search of cases and in the rapid monitoring of vaccination coverage in children aged 1 - 7 years old. Laboratory confirmation by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and molecular detection by Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) assay in throat swab and urine were done. Results: One transmission chain with three generations of cases was identified. The primary case was a 9-year-old boy who was infected in Wales, UK. His sisters aged 7 and 15 years old respectively, were the first generation of cases in Mexico. The second generation was related to the imported cases, and affected two Canadian tourists and an American woman aged 39 years old. A third generation occurred in Canada and affected an infant of 15 months of age and his sister aged 4 years old. The genotype D8 which was circulating in UK was identified in these patients. One probable case was detected in Quintana Roo, but was discarded by laboratory testing. The coverage with at least one dose of Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine ranged from 95% to 99.5%. Conclusion: International travelers with no history of vaccination are at risk of acquiring measles even in countries that have interrupted endemic transmission. The high immunization coverage of measles containing vaccine could explain the absence of cases in Mexican population. Highlights: Multinational measles outbreak in a country without endemic transmission. The findings exhibit the importance of immunization in international travelers in the post-elimination era.