By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

The United States has recorded its highest number of annual measles cases in 33 years, with at least 1,277 confirmed infections spanning 38 states and the District of Columbia. According to information published by the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI), the country has already exceeded the number of infections reported in 2019. The current total represents the largest outbreak since 1992, when more than 2,100 cases were documented nationwide.

Officials link the rising case counts to declining vaccination rates in multiple communities, combined with travel-related exposures that have seeded outbreaks across state lines. The surge has placed significant strain on local and state public health agencies working to contain transmission. CORI, which operates within the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, has developed a set of specialized tools and resources intended to help jurisdictions prepare for and respond to outbreaks. These resources include tailored analytic platforms, structured risk assessments, and real-time decision-support products. “These tools are designed, tested, and refined to ensure they are practical and useful in real-world public health settings,” CORI states on its website.

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In addition to analytic software, CORI provides modeling outputs, situation reports, and guidance documents to support containment strategies. The organization also manages a national Community of Practice that connects state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments to share experiences and strengthen outbreak response capabilities. “Our Community of Practice is a network of health departments committed to integrating modeling and analytics into their outbreak response capabilities,” CORI states. “Together, we are working to strengthen our nation’s readiness to respond to infectious disease emergencies.”

The program is structured to build capacity that can be activated rapidly as outbreaks evolve. According to CORI, “Our goal is to equip health departments with decision-support tools, training, and analytic capacity that can be activated rapidly during an outbreak.” “Our work focuses on helping health departments improve preparedness and response to measles outbreaks through real-time modeling and collaboration,” CORI states.

Stacy M. Brown

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