Little League Measles Came From Japan

A small outbreak of measles at last summer’s Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., apparently originated with a 12-year-old Japanese player whose sibling had experienced symptoms in Japan the month before.

In its weekly public health report today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traces the infection back to its source, and says the incident "highlights the need to maintain the highest possible vaccination coverage in the United States, along with disease surveillance and outbreak-containment capabilities."

As usual, the agency did not identify the actual event involved. But the description, dates and location make it clear.

The CDC said another Japanese youth, exposed before traveling to Williamsport to watch the series, fell ill with measles after arriving in Pennsylvania.

Tracking how the viral disease spread, the CDC identified several other infected people:

A 53-year-old woman who was seated one row in front of the child spectator on a flight from Detroit to Baltimore.

A 25-year-old federal officer who had been working in an airport customs area when the Japanese ball player was there.

A colleague of the officer’s, who came down with measles a month later.

A 40-year-old sales representative who attended the world series and met the original patient.

And two teenagers — college roommates in Texas — who attended a sales event. The college students contracted measles despite having been vaccinated as children.

Measles is characterized by an itchy rash, fever and cough.

The disease is not treatable, although high vaccination rates in the U.S. have greatly reduced the number of outbreaks. Deaths are relatively rare, but measles can lead to pneumonia and other serious problems such as scarring of the cornea.

"Previous imported measles cases have demonstrated the potential for larger outbreaks in U.S. communities with poor vaccination coverage," the CDC noted in its report (www.cdc.gov/mmwr/), adding:

"The small number of identified cases in this outbreak, despite the large number of exposed persons, demonstrated the value of maintaining high measles vaccination coverage."

The Japanese team lost the championship game to a team from Georgia, 3-2, after giving up a walk-off home run to right field.