Jerusalem – The Health Ministry has warned of possible measles exposure on Wednesday on a flight from Israel to London.
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According to a ministry statement, a patient with measles boarded EasyJet Flight 2084, which left Ben-Gurion Airport at 3.15 p.m. and arrived at Luton Airport in London at 7.30 p.m.
“Anyone who was on the flight and who was born from 1957 onwards and is not immunized with two measles doses is recommended to contact the district health office in Jerusalem immediately or any health office close to their place of residence, or the Health Ministry,” it said. “It is important to clarify the need for vaccination and to receive it if necessary, within 6 days of the flight.”
The Health Ministry advised passengers from this flight “who suffer from fever and one or more of the following signs: cough, runny nose, eye infection, or a rash,” to avoid public places including kindergartens and schools, work, prayer houses, malls, restaurants, public transport, and any other public framework, in order to prevent the contagion from spreading into their environment.
“If you are suffering from symptoms and need a medical examination, please contact the clinic or any other medical institution by appointment or, alternatively, notify the staff immediately upon arrival at the medical institution,” the ministry said. “It should be noted that signs appear within 21 days of exposure.”
English newspaper,The Sun, reported late last month that there were 234 cases reported in the UK in the first quarter of 2019. The paper cited a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which said that between April last year and March this year there have been 860 confirmed cases of measles in the UK.
In a report from April, the World Health Organization said that “2019 has seen 170 countries report 112,163 measles cases. As of this time last year, there were 28,124 measles cases from 163 countries.”
“The reported cases rose by 300 percent in the first three months of 2019,” the WHO said.
Meanwhile, in the United States 1,022 cases have been reported in 28 states as of June 6, according to a statement from the the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last month, the number of measles cases in New York rose to 535 following an outbreak in October last year, the New York Daily News reported.
Israel has also seen some 4,000 cases of measles since the measles outbreak started in the country in March 2018.