There are no reported cases of measles – so far – at the shelter in Oak Park where the village is housing asylum-seeking migrants, but village public health officials are paying close attention to the cases of the communicable disease that have popped up in at least one shelter in Chicago.
“With five confirmed measles cases in nearby Chicago in recent weeks, Oak Park health officials are closely monitoring the spread of this contagious respiratory disease, and keeping in communication with city, county and state and public health representatives. To date, there are no confirmed cases in Oak Park,” according to a news release posted late Tuesday on the village website and Facebook page.
As of Tuesday, seven cases had been reported at a six-floor warehouse-turned-shelter on the city’s West Side, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. That was three new cases since the day before.
A team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Chicago Tuesday to assist with the screening and vaccination response to the outbreak.
The Oak Park release explained that though measles is highly contagious, immunization is available. Also, it is believed the current outbreak is among migrants who had not received a vaccine. The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is among a series of immunizations most Americans get as a child, reducing their risk for contracting some diseases like measles.
“The concern is for those who are unvaccinated, as 90% of unvaccinated individuals will likely contract measles if exposed,” officials wrote in the release.
It was not immediately clear if the migrants Oak Park is assisting have been vaccinated against measles or any other diseases.
Oak Park has been housing migrants since November, after dozens were brought into the village from encampments at a nearby police station in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. The migrants, most of whom are seeking asylum from their native Venezuela, were recently moved from shelters at a local YMCA, hotel and churches, and are now housed at one site, the shuttered St. Edmund Catholic school building.
The village secured nearly $2 million in grants to move the men, women and children into St. Edmund. About 100 people are housed at the shelter, officials previously told Pioneer Press. The count winnowed from the more than 200 the village initially assisted in late-fall.