Measles cases stop Afghan refugee flights to the United States

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The White House said the arrest was recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after diagnosing all four cases of measles.

“Operation Allied Welcome to the United States flights have been temporarily halted at the request of the CDC and with great caution due to four diagnosed cases of measles among Afghans that have recently arrived in the United States,” said the secretary of White House press, Jen Psaki. they told reporters.

He did not say where the cases were located. Afghan flights have arrived in the United States from military bases in Germany and Qatar. Many are operated by commercial carriers.

Fort McCoy, an army base in Wisconsin that housed Afghan refugees, said Friday in a statement that “Operation Allies Welcome identified a single guest who had arrived” last Saturday and “showed symptoms consistent with measles. “. A diagnosis of measles was confirmed the next day.

“Immediately after notification of the suspicious case, the guest was placed in isolation and guests at risk of exposure were placed in quarantine. A post-exposure vaccine was also provided to people at risk and completed the tracking of contacts. Since the identification of the case, no measles has been diagnosed in any other guest, “the statement said.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that can cause serious health complications. It was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. However, travelers have continued to carry the virus to the United States, which has led to local spread and outbreaks among people who are not vaccinated.

Psaki said people who encountered measles were in quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines and that contact tracking had begun. He said arriving Afghans had to be vaccinated against measles as a condition of their entry into the United States.

The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is currently being administered to Afghans at military facilities in the United States, Psaki said. He added that the administration is exploring measures to vaccinate people in foreign places.

People are also offered Covid-19 vaccines and tested for the virus.

The Biden administration continues to clash with how it will safely guard and resettle thousands of people who fled the Taliban when it seized Afghanistan this summer.

As of Aug. 17, approximately 60,000 people have arrived in the United States as part of Operation Allies Welcome, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

Of these arrivals, 11% are U.S. citizens, 6% are legal permanent residents of the United States, 83% are other “Afghans at risk,” including holders of special immigrant visas, and other holders of visas, SIV applicants and others. The group also includes a small number of third-country nationals who were also evacuated and prosecuted, DHS said.

Although the Afghans are checked before entering the United States, those who quickly left the country without formalities caused additional control and caused long delays.

There are currently more than 40,000 Afghans spread across eight military installations in the U.S., and that number is expected to grow as a growing number of Afghans finish their overseas screening and be taken to the U.S.

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense is now evaluating the military process for the detection and monitoring of Afghan evacuees this month, including individuals who are considered security risks.

The Pentagon last month also recognized unhealthy conditions at Qatar’s Al Udeid air base, the base where the U.S. military temporarily stationed thousands of people evacuated from Afghanistan.

This story has been updated with additional details on Friday.

CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht, Maegan Vázquez and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

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