According to the Associated Press, one case was confirmed on Sept. 5 at Fort McCoy, an Army base in Wisconsin that currently houses 8,000 people.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that can be spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat. Most Americans are vaccinated against it as children, since most schools require the MMR vaccine in order to attend.
So far there has only been one additional person who tested positive for the virus on Ramstein Air Base. However, after conducting an antibody screening of the refugees, the CDC found 94% of them tested positive for antibodies which indicates most of them at some point either contracted the disease and recovered or were previously vaccinated.
The air base said it is prepared to restart the travel process only “once it has been deemed safe to do so.”
