Ulan Bator, Feb 24 Mongolia has confirmed another imported case of measles, bringing the total to four, local media reported on Monday, citing the country's National Centre for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).
According to the NCCD, all confirmed cases involve Mongolian citizens who recently returned from Vietnam. The centre has urged those who have travelled to Vietnam to get tested and vaccinated immediately.
Health authorities are also advising the public to follow key preventive measures, including wearing masks in public, practising regular handwashing, and ensuring measles vaccination at least 14 days before travelling to affected areas, Xinhua news agency reported.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease spread through respiratory droplets and direct contact. While preventable through vaccination, its symptoms include fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, and eye inflammation.
There is no specific treatment for measles, and most patients recover within two to three weeks.
Measles can affect anyone but is most common in children.
Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body.
Being vaccinated is the best way to prevent getting sick with measles or spreading it to other people. The vaccine is safe and helps your body fight off the virus.
Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.
An estimated 107,500 people died from measles in 2023 -- mostly children under the age of five years, despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine.
Accelerated immunisation activities by countries, WHO, the Measles & Rubella Partnership (formerly the Measles & Rubella Initiative), and other international partners successfully prevented an estimated 60 million deaths between 2000–2023. Vaccination decreased the estimated measles deaths from 800 062 in 2000 to 107 500 in 2022.
Measles is still common, particularly in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The overwhelming majority of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes or weak health infrastructures that struggle to reach all children with immunisation.
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