Health Officials And CDC Discussed No-Fly List For Measles Patients

Officials at both the local and state levels consulted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about putting some people who were potentially infected with measles on the Do Not Board list, it has been revealed. The discussions aimed to reduce measles exposure to unsuspecting travelers, some of whom may have been vulnerable to the infection. The talks took place as the CDC reported record infection numbers in April.READ: Measles cases are skyrocketing globally

The Do Not Board list, which is typically referred to as the no-fly list, is a federal database used by the CDC to temporarily ban some people from air travel.

This list can be used as a tool to prevent someone who has select infectious diseases from boarding an airplane, the idea being that air travel would greatly expand the number of people exposed to the illness.

According to a new report from The Washington Post, health officials located in five states managed to talk people who were thought to have measles into voluntarily cancelling their air travel plans.

These officials reportedly warned the individuals they would potentially be added to the CDC's Do Not Board list in order to legally prevent them from flying. The report claims that eight people believed to be infected with measles agreed to cancel their flights. In addition, health officials in multiple states, including Washington, California, and New York, reportedly spoke with the CDC about adding these people to the Do Not Board list.

The report claims that two people who potentially had measles had planned to travel from the US to Israel. In light of these plans, officials had contacted the CDC about potentially adding them to the Do Not Board list in order to prevent them from possibly spreading the infection. The threat was apparently enough to compel them to voluntarily cancel their plans, according to CNN, which received confirmation about the 'pre-discussions.'

Though measles is easily avoided via two doses of a vaccine, a growing number of people have rejected this preventative measure over unfounded fears about autism and other alleged vaccination outcomes. Pockets of unvaccinated people in the United States caused the nation to exceed its all-time post-eradication annual high number of cases by April.