NewsDesk @bactiman63

The Argentina Ministry of Health of the Nation confirmed a case of measles in the country. The case is a 2-year-old girl, resident in the district of Vicente López, in the province of Buenos Aires, who has maintained contact with a relative who recently returned from a trip to Europe and Africa.

Measles/CDC

The epidemiological investigation of the case began on July 7 with the notification to the National Health Surveillance System of a case of febrile exanthematous disease, suspected of measles, by a public effector in the province of Buenos Aires. The diagnosis was confirmed yesterday afternoon by the national reference laboratory.

The girl’s school and family contacts are being followed up. The municipality and the province carry out the focus control actions, and the national reference laboratory continues the corresponding molecular studies.

The last endemic case of measles in Argentina was recorded in 2000.

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The Region of the Americas certified the elimination of the endemic circulation of the measles virus in 2016, being the first and only region to achieve this goal. In the 2017-2019 period, more than 40,000 cases were registered in 18 countries of the Americas, 93 percent of them in Brazil and Venezuela, for which the Region of the Americas was no longer considered measles-free, but 33 of the 35 member countries maintain the status, including Argentina, which continues to be a country free of this disease. Additionally, as measles is still endemic in the rest of the world, the countries of the region are exposed to the constant threat of importation of the virus.