CBS NEWS – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now urging summer camp operators to check for documentation of immunity from measles through vaccination or prior infection for all children, staff and volunteers, amid a deadly year of outbreaks that is now near record levels.
In a checklist for operators of summer camps published this week, the CDC warned:
“Measles can spread quickly in summer camps because campers and staff spend a lot of time together in close contact with each other. Measles is more than just a rash — it can cause serious complications or even death.”
The agency’s new guidance says that tracking measles immunity status is important to help health departments quickly identify people who need to be vaccinated or offered antibody injections in the case of an outbreak within a camp.
“Decide if you will allow unvaccinated campers and staff at your camp. Understand the risk if you do accept a camper or staff member who has not been immunized for measles,” the American Camp Association says in its guidance for camps, which shared the CDC’s checklist.
Other steps that the CDC recommends summer camps take to prepare for measles spread this year include stocking up on face masks and preparing a potential isolation space to separate campers who are sickened.
The CDC’s new recommendations come as confirmed measles cases have climbed to 1,197 infections so far in 2025, less than 100 cases away from topping the record 1,274 cases that were confirmed for all of 2019 …
