In addition to identifying the 25 countries in the United States with the highest risk of measles onset, the researchers also identified the countries that contribute most to the risk of measles in the United States: India, ChinaMexico, Japan, Ukraine, the Philippines and Thailand. “In recent years there have been repeated incidents related to measles in the United States and other countries, including vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Lauren Gardner, co-author of the study and associate professor of civil engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The recent increase in cases of measles is due both to the return of travelers from countries where there have been outbreaks of measles, and to low rates of vaccination in some parts of the United States, driven by the anti-vascular movement, the researchers said. We recommend that public health officials and policy makers give priority to monitoring countries that we have identified as high-risk and have not yet reported cases, particularly those close to the countries where the epidemic occurs and those that host major international airports,” Gardner said. “The antivaxxistas deny the best and most successful medical science that we have and choose to rely on fraudulent claims, as alleged link with autism, which has been continuously revealed by evidence and analysis in the last two decades”, said Sahotra Sarkar, corresponding author and professor of integrated philosophy and biology at the University of Texas in Austin. For analysis, the researchers examined international air traffic, non-medical exceptions to childhood vaccination, demographic data and reported measles outbreaks. In addition, according to the researchers, most of the districts that reported measles in April 2019 belong to these 25 districts or to one of them. By the end of April this year, more than 700 measles cases had been reported in the United States, the highest number in decades. Its predictions include New York City, Washington State, and the provinces of Oregon, where measles is already spreading. “Measles, in particular, poses a serious threat to public health because of the highly contagious nature of the disease,” Gardner said in a statement to the academic press. “Our forecasts are in line with those of several countries that have had a measles epidemic this year. Measles was officially removed from the country in 2000, but this high number of cases shows that the country is still at risk. U.S. health officials should focus on areas where there is high resistance to vaccination, as well as areas where the number of travelers returning from countries affected by measles is high, said Sarkar. This is exactly what the researchers have done and planned in some areas of the United States where measles can spread. In total, 25 districts exposed to measles have been identified. WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.