An official from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week debunked claims immigrants are linked to the U.S. measles outbreak.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases director, attended a U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing this week on childhood vaccinations and clarified misconceptions about migrants transmitting the measles to Americans.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., asked, "Tell me, of those infected in the California epidemic, how many were native-born Americans and how many had immigrated here?"

Schuchat did not have specific numbers but replied, "Most of the importation that we have of measles each year are in [U.S.-born] Americans who are traveling abroad and come back."

Cassidy acknowledged many families in western California have not vaccinated their children, but continued to question if immigrants could be a source to the measles.

"For the measles outbreak, we are seeing spread in some of the wealthier communities, in California for instance, years ago we have a lot of importations of measles from Latin America, which is where we have a lot of immigrants, but the Americas really took on the elimination of measles and did major campaigns around all of the countries and had great success."

Cassidy asked about the requirements for immigrants, namely adults, to receive immunization. Schuchat said most of the risk, however, pertains to overall children and a documentation process is in place. She added that if an individual survives to adulthood in most countries, it is most likely they have already been exposed to measles.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, asked how undocumented and documented immigrant children's needs are being addressed in order to ensure the public health of American children. Schuchat said state and local departments have been working on ensuring people are immunized "regardless of their country of origin."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. immunization coverage for measles among 1-year-olds is 91 percent. Among the countries recognized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency for the influx of undocumented immigrant children to the U.S., immunization is approximately as high or higher compared to the U.S. El Salvador's immunization coverage is 94 percent while Honduras and Mexico tied at 89 percent and Guatemala followed with 85 percent.

Across the Americas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have low immunization covered with 65 percent and 79 percent, respectively.

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