Measles was declared
eliminated in the U.S.
25 years ago
but this year marks
the most cases since then
with spread of the disease
to 40 states
and more than 1,300 cases.
So with Wisconsin
vaccination rates
how at risk
are we for measles outbreaks?
Yeah, in many ways
we're a sitting duck.
You know, as
we see people traveling
and introducing the disease
into various areas
all it takes is one person
who's incubating the disease
to show up in an area
with under
immunized populations.
and away it goes.
That's really
how these things get started.
So what's it like
for a doctor like yourself
to see a preventable disease
like this spreading in...?
I mean it's heartbreaking.
I mean
I saw plenty of measles
earlier in my career
both in my training here
in the United States
and in my work globally.
And, you know, as we worked
so hard to eradicate polio
when I was younger
measles was really
the next one
on the chopping block.
How transmissible are measles?
Yeah, measles
is probably one of the most
transmissible things
on the planet.
You know
we talk about the fact
that you probably need
about 95% of people
to be vaccinated
in any community
to keep an outbreak
from spreading.
And so when we're sitting
well below 90%
you know, it's really almost
something that is inevitable.
But it is by far
one of the most
contagious things
on this planet at this point.