Fort McCoy hit by case of measles amid Afghan refugee resettlement effort
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Fort McCoy Army Base in Wisconsin identified a case of the measles this week as it brings in thousands of Afghan refugees as part of the mass evacuation effort in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
An internal government email, viewed by Fox News, said that the base confirmed a case of the measles on Sunday.
"All those who had been in contact with the infected person at base have been isolated, and post-exposure prophylaxis and inoculations are in process," the notice said.
Separately, a senior U.S. government official confirmed to Fox News that officials identified a single measles case as part of what they called a robust health screening process.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describes measles as a "highly contagious" virus that can be spread by coughing, sneezing, and by people breathing contaminated air or touching infected surfaces and then their faces.
It says that the virus is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also be infected, and that the virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace even after an infected person leaves the area.
According to the CDC, Afghanistan has the seventh highest number of measles cases in the world.
The document said that due to the disease's contagious nature, Fort McCoy was not receiving evacuees "at this time" and was working to procure the necessary vaccines. However, a spokesperson for Task Force McCoy said that the base was still accepting Afghans, of which it can support 13,000.
The spokesperson told Fox News that they were not authorized to provide specific medical cases, but said that "the health of the Afghans at Fort McCoy is a top priority" and that Afghans are given medical screening and immunizations as needed.
The case comes amid continuing concern about the health risks related to the evacuation. The New York Times reported that among the refugees who arrived at Dulles Airport on Aug. 29, officials found six positive cases for COVID-19.
A Department of Homeland Security fact sheet about Operation Allies Welcome says that all arrivals are being tested for COVID-19, and have the chance to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as other vaccines, at no cost.
The Pentagon said last month that it is opening more military bases to hold up to 50,000 Afghan nationals who are either applying for Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) status or are deemed to be "at risk."
The U.S. is opening up Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Fort Pickett in Virginia, and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico to provide support to the U.S. mission to evacuate SIV applicants and other individuals deemed at risk.
That is in addition to Fort McCoy, as well as Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bliss in Texas, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix in New Jersey.
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According to Joe Biden, it was (General Milley) the military that advised him to close Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and instead use Kabul’s airport to evacuate Americans. "They were the ones who said the Afghan army would hold, that the pullout would go smoothly."
Maybe they are the ones responsible for this mad dash evacuation?
General Milley maybe right, the only thing to worry about isn't measles, Afghanistan or winning battles - it's "white rage!"
Let's hear it for the progressive regime: Viva la revolución
Hopefully all Ft Mead residents have up to date measles vaccinations
91% of children in the US have had the MMR vaccine which is effective for life. But you go ahead and stoke the fear fires.
Let's hear it for the progressive regime: Viva la revolución
What does that even mean ?
What it means Pat, is that the counterrevolution to the American revolution is in full force. We need only look at what has taken place in the last year and a half. Once it was only a fringe movement on college campuses, but now it is everywhere. Of course, the primary difference between the counterrevolution and the American revolution is that the former seeks to destroy American society and impose autocratic rule, and the latter sought to protect American society and institute representative government.
Oh my ! Reel it in Vic, you're losing your shit.
Oh I know, everything is good in La La Land.
?
Beats me, I thought we were promised a week of China bashing.
I was thinking it would be back to the border...
Sorry, the Biden Administration can't stick to a script. They are a perpetual fuck up machine. It is hard to keep up with them sometimes.
I thought not sticking to a script use to be a good thing...
Or is that only when donald went off script...
Hope there isn’t any smallpox breakouts.
Honestly, I never got the shot. I was the first year it was no longer mandated.
Evening Ender....far as I know smallpox was eradicated world wide back in 1979...
Eradicated but not gone. Labs in the US and Russia still have it.
Which means it is still a threat, albeit a threat that has been contained to date for over 40 years.
My parents foolishly got me vaccinated against measles. I repeated this folly and got my own kids vaccinated. Our fascist state government also requires students be vaccinated to attend school. So, we won’t be able to enjoy the freedom of getting Measles from Afghanistan.
/s
Why wasn't all of this put in place before the withdrawal? Why the scramble to improvise now?
Measles in the Afghan population isn't a surprise. The need for medical care and isolation should have been expected before any Afghans showed up. The Afghans should have been informed enroute that they would be detained for a quarantine period. And the housing should have been set up to accommodate the need for a quarantine period.
All of this is being made up on the spur of the moment. There hasn't been any planning. Nothing was put in place beforehand so now everything is a shocking emergency. Has our military and diplomatic planning really become this inept and incompetent?