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. 2022 Apr 29;71(17):592-596.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7117a2.

Public Health Actions to Control Measles Among Afghan Evacuees During Operation Allies Welcome - United States, September-November 2021

Nina B Masters, Adria D Mathis, Jessica Leung, Kelley Raines, Nakia S Clemmons, Kathryn Miele, S Arunmozhi Balajee, Tatiana M Lanzieri, Mona Marin, Deborah L Christensen, Kevin R Clarke, Miguel A Cruz, Kathleen Gallagher, Shannon Gearhart, Alida M Gertz, Onalee Grady-Erickson, Caroline A Habrun, Gimin Kim, Michael H Kinzer, Shanna Miko, M Steven Oberste, Julia K Petras, Emily G Pieracci, Ian W Pray, Hannah G Rosenblum, James M Ross, Erin E Rothney, Hannah E Segaloff, Leah V Shepersky, Kimberly A Skrobarcek, Anna M Stadelman, Kelsey M Sumner, Michelle A Waltenburg, Michelle Weinberg, Mary Claire Worrell, Noelle E Bessette, Lilian R Peake, Marshall P Vogt, Meredith Robinson, Ryan P Westergaard, Richard H Griesser, Joseph P Icenogle, Stephen N Crooke, Bettina Bankamp, Scott E Stanley, Paul A Friedrichs, Larry D Fletcher, Iván A Zapata, Herbert O Wolfe, Pritesh H Gandhi, Julia Y Charles, Clive M Brown, Martin S Cetron, Nicki Pesik, Nancy W Knight, Francisco Alvarado-Ramy, Michael Bell, Leisel E Talley, Lisa D Rotz, Paul A Rota, David E Sugerman, Paul A Gastañaduy; Operation Allies Welcome Response Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Public Health Actions to Control Measles Among Afghan Evacuees During Operation Allies Welcome - United States, September-November 2021

Nina B Masters et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

On August 29, 2021, the United States government oversaw the emergent establishment of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and implemented by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Department of State (DoS), to safely resettle U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals from Afghanistan to the United States. Evacuees were temporarily housed at several overseas locations in Europe and Asia* before being transported via military and charter flights through two U.S. international airports, and onward to eight U.S. military bases,† with hotel A used for isolation and quarantine of persons with or exposed to certain infectious diseases.§ On August 30, CDC issued an Epi-X notice encouraging public health officials to maintain vigilance for measles among Afghan evacuees because of an ongoing measles outbreak in Afghanistan (25,988 clinical cases reported nationwide during January-November 2021) (1) and low routine measles vaccination coverage (66% and 43% for the first and second doses, respectively, in 2020) (2).

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

References

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