Mennonite Measles in Texas

[JohnH]

​The epicenter of the measles outbreak is the Mennonite community in Seminole. Low vaccination rates and distrust of government are a big reason they are not getting vaccinated. 700 people have gotten sick, two have died.

Would you support calling something “Haitian tuberculosis”?

I think most people believe there is good, established medical knowledge of measles vaccines.

Not everyone does. In this country, people are allowed freedom to believe different things.

Sure. And I'm guessing you and Szdfan will not convince each other. And I won't convince you either. I'm convinced that the medicine behind measles vaccines is well understood. And Mennonites do seem to be at the heart of spreading measles.

You disagree, and you seem to be offended at calling this Mennonite Measles. You will probably continue to feel that way, I will probably continue to feel differently.

Are you OK with terms like “Haitian tuberculosis”?

[Bootstrap]

Are you OK with terms like “Haitian tuberculosis”?

I don’t love the term “Mennonite measles.” It paints a broad stereotype that is not true of all Mennonites. But I also think we have to be honest: when many people hear “Mennonite” or “Amish” today, they are no longer thinking of us as peacemakers or disaster relief or people who are especially faithful to the Gospel. They are thinking of political Amish at Trump rallies or Mennonite communities at the center of measles outbreaks like the one in Seminole, Texas. We just haven't been doing as good a job at promoting the things we believe define us most.

So we may not like what they call us. But their concerns are real - measles had been pretty much eliminated, and measles is coming back because of low vaccination rates in some places. That puts everyone at risk. Two children have died.

So when our neighbors tell us they want us to do things to help keep them and their children safe, how do we respond to that? Not politically, but as Christians? That’s not a question we can avoid, no matter what we believe about medicine.

[Szdfan]

Has anyone seen the phrase “Mennonite measles” outside of this forum? I haven’t.

[ken_sylvania]

... But I also think we have to be honest: when many people hear “Mennonite” or “Amish” today, they are no longer thinking of us as peacemakers or disaster relief or people who are especially faithful to the Gospel. They are thinking of political Amish at Trump rallies or Mennonite communities at the center of measles outbreaks like the one in Seminole, Texas. We just haven't been doing as good a job at promoting the things we believe define us most.

Are you sure about that?

[Bootstrap]

... But I also think we have to be honest: when many people hear “Mennonite” or “Amish” today, they are no longer thinking of us as peacemakers or disaster relief or people who are especially faithful to the Gospel. They are thinking of political Amish at Trump rallies or Mennonite communities at the center of measles outbreaks like the one in Seminole, Texas. We just haven't been doing as good a job at promoting the things we believe define us most.

Are you sure about that?

I said "many", not "most". And I don't have solid polling data on this. But if people know the Mennonites primarily from the news, these things and sexual abuse scandals are pretty prominent.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Folks, I am in Canada now, and the outbreak is worse up here, pushing 1,000 in Ontario alone,

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.7513057

[Soloist]

Folks, I am in Canada now, and the outbreak is worse up here, pushing 1,000 in Ontario alone,

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.7513057

Have they identified the source?

[Ken]

Folks, I am in Canada now, and the outbreak is worse up here, pushing 1,000 in Ontario alone,

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.7513057

Have they identified the source?

Yes, it was a large Mennonite wedding in New Brunswick: https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/ ... ctor-says/

Measles outbreak traced back to Mennonite gathering, Ontario’s top doctor says

An ongoing outbreak of measles in Ontario has been traced back to a large gathering in New Brunswick last fall that was attended by guests from Mennonite communities, the province’s top doctor says.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore sent a memo to Ontario public health units on March 7 in which he revealed the connection to the New Brunswick gathering, particularly as it pertains to a rise in measles cases in southwestern Ontario.

A report from Public Health Ontario last week noted that the province has seen a total of 470 cases associated with the New Brunswick outbreak between October 18 of last year and March, 19 of this year.

Public Health Ontario said that a total of 34 measles cases in the province that are associated with the New Brunswick outbreak have required hospitalization, including two that needed treatment in intensive care.

All but two of the cases that required hospitalization were in unimmunized individuals, including 29 children.

“Over 90 per cent of cases in Ontario linked to this outbreak are among unimmunized individuals,” Moore warned in his memo. “Cases could spread in any unvaccinated community or population but are disproportionately affecting some Mennonite, Amish, and other Anabaptist communities due to a combination of under-immunization and exposure to measles in certain areas.”

The New Brunswick outbreak was declared over on Jan. 7 but Public Health Ontario has said that it continues to see new cases associated with the original outbreak.

Notably, Public Health Ontario has said that the number of cases in Ontario linked to the New Brunswick exposure increased by 120 between March 14 and March 19.

It also said that all but seven of the 440 confirmed measles case in Ontario so far this year have been “linked” to the “multi-jurisdictional outbreak” that originated in New Brunswick.

The cases have spanned across 11 public health units, though no cases have been identified in Toronto.

“The sharp increase in the number of outbreak cases and the geographic spread in recent weeks is due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized,” Public Health Ontario said in its March 20 report.

[JohnH]

Blamed on a gathering last fall (that's half a year ago)... and no deaths.

[Ken]

Blamed on a gathering last fall (that's half a year ago)... and no deaths.

"Blamed" is your word not theirs.

But yes, all but 7 cases of measles were linked back to a large Mennonite wedding where most of the attendees were unvaccinated. And they brought it back with them to Ontario. From a newer article published last week: https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7506748

Public health officials in Ontario said they've now seen a total of 816 people with the measles, the majority in unvaccinated children.
Ontario schools begin suspending students who aren't fully vaccinated

Across the province, 61 people have gone to hospital for treatment, three of which have resulted in ICU stays. No deaths have been reported.

PHO's report also says 87.4 per cent of cases are in unvaccinated individuals, and another 9.7 per cent are in individuals with no proof of immunization, or whose immunization status is unknown.

Since last week the number has risen to over 1,000. So yes, Mennonites getting in the news and leaving their mark on Ontario.