EveryCRSReport.com – Global Measles Vaccination Trends, April 19, 2019 IN11104.

“Congress has long taken an interest in infectious disease prevention and control. Measles is a highly contagious virus that is transmitted through droplets emitted from an infected person when coughing and sneezing. The virus can live for up to two hours in the airspace or on a surface where an infected person coughed or sneezed. Other people can contract the disease if they breathe contaminated air or touch their eyes, nose, or mouth after touching a contaminated surface. Up to 90% of those in the proximity of an infected person who are not immune to the disease will be infected. Symptoms usually include high fever, rash, runny nose, and ear infections. Measles can also cause hearing loss, blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhea, and severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that up to two of every 1,000 children infected with measles will die…”