Measles concerns among Afghan refugees may delay Afghan resettlement by weeks

Measles concerns may delay Afghan resettlement by weeks The Biden administration announced that it would halt flights for Afghan evacuees at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany and the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after four individuals tested positive following their arrival. Erin Banco POLITICO

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending Afghan evacuees housed at U.S. military bases overseas be tested and vaccinated for measles — a process that could delay efforts to resettle as many as 12,000 by several weeks, according to three senior administration officials.

The Biden administration announced Sept. 10 that it would halt flights for Afghan evacuees at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany and the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after four individuals tested positive following their arrival in the U.S. last week.

The CDC is carrying out contact tracing of those individuals in an attempt to detect if any other Afghan evacuees may also have contracted the virus. Military and U.S. government medical personnel are already helping screen evacuees and will help with vaccinations at the bases, one of the sources said. The U.S. is also testing Afghan evacuees domestically and quarantined the four individuals who already tested positive. ...