A measles outbreak is going global, however, there are no local cases that have been confirmed. But the reality is different across the United States and around the world.

Doctors are seeing a surge of the highly contagious disease.

Early this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 60 confirmed cases in 17 states, more than 58 cases in all of 2023. Notably, most were associated with international travel and involved children aged at least one-year-old who were unvaccinated.

And while Guam may be in the clear of the uptick for now, Public Health’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bob Leon Guerrero, is advising the community not to let their guard down.

He said, “The problem is, though, that there’s places where a lot of people like to travel that are seeing measles. The US, the Philippines–and when we usually have our outbreaks, it’s usually linked to either Japan or the Philippines, but mostly the Philippines.”

Dr. Leon Guerrero stressed the importance of measles vaccinations as the disease could turn deadly.

“The last time Guam had a major outbreak was 1994. I saw both professionally and personally what measles can do. We had over 600 cases of the measles and 3 deaths. My own son dropped from 20 lbs. to 16 lbs. in one day–even though he was breastfed. He wasn’t even a year old at the time,” said Leon Guerrero.

It's a bleak time that brings up memories for Tumon resident John Batelle. He and his family all caught measles as kids. Batelle echoed Dr. Bob’s sentiments on vaccines.

He said, “We’ve been doing it for 60 years. I'm living proof it works.”

Dr. Leon Guerrero advises the community to check in with their physicians to ensure their children’s measles vaccine is up to date, especially before international travel and to places with levels of the disease.