The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today recommended a temporary suspension of adoption proceedings for children from the Zhuzhou Child Welfare Institute in the Hunan Province of China, which is experiencing an outbreak of measles.
On April 6, 2004, public health officials in Seattle and King County, Washington, reported a laboratory-confirmed case of measles in a recently adopted child from China. An investigation identified measles-like rash illness in 9 of 12 children adopted by 11 families who traveled to China in March. Six of the 9 have laboratory-confirmed measles (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr//preview/mmwrhtml/mm53d409a1.htm).
CDC is working with public health partners in China to implement control measures and prevent further spread of measles. The temporary suspension of adoption proceedings at the affected orphanage is recommended while control measures are implemented.
“Adopting children is such a wonderful experience for so many people,” said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding. “To make this experience as safe and healthy as possible for everyone, we ask prospective parents traveling internationally to adopt children to ensure that their and their family members’ immunizations are current.”
Recommendations for vaccination are: