By The Iowa Statesman
According to California health officials, the strain of measles currently spreading through that state may not have been caused by anti-vaxxers — parents who refuse to vaccinate their children over concerns about the safety of vaccines — after all.
In a report filed last week with the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, the genetic markers for the strain of measles that erupted from Disneyland in December and sparked a national panic, including calls for mandatory vaccinations in the U.S., indicate the origin may have been another country. But don’t start pointing an accusatory finger southward, either.
Instead, look west to the Philippines.
“The source of the initial Disney theme park exposure has not been identified,” the report stated. “Specimens from 30 California patients were genotyped; all were measles genotype B3, which has caused a large outbreak recently in the Philippines, but has also been detected in at least 14 countries and at least six U.S. states in the last 6 months.”
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