The Department of Health has responded to comments made by the Chief Medical Officer of the LBJ Hospital, Dr. Joseph Shumway to KHJ News and Talanei concerning the measles outbreak.
Dr. Shumway alleged that the measles outbreak was fake and the declaration of the outbreak was simply an attempt to steal money from the U.S. Government, which didn’t work.
A statement issued this afternoon said, “DOH wants to unequivocally state that the measles outbreak declaration was in no way a failed strategy or an attempt to deceptively obtain funding from the federal government.
“It was made based on the facts, and in light of neighboring Samoa’s measles experience in 2019/2020 to protect the community, particularly vulnerable populations such as unvaccinated children.”
The statement provides the background of the recent measles cases.
On April 18, 2023, the American Samoa Department of Health (ASDOH) was informed by the LBJ Laboratory Services about a confirmed measles case that had presented on March 23 (three weeks earlier). This sample was sent to a contracted commercial laboratory in Los Angeles, California, for confirmatory testing.
From April 19-22, LBJ, CHC and the EPINET team saw 31 patients meeting the case definition for probable measles. During this period, three children under 6 months old were admitted for inpatient care at LBJ for suspected measles. These children were ineligible for measles vaccination. At the same time, CDC reached out to DOH to offer assistance.
Due to the highly contagious nature of the measles virus and the risk it posed, particularly to unvaccinated children, and that the threshold for a measles outbreak was exceeded (one case), the Declaration of Public Health Emergency was announced by the Office of the Governor on April 24, 2023.
Throughout the period of the outbreak, there were 2 confirmed measles cases, 82 probable cases identified syndromically with age ranging from 2 months to 13-years-old. On June 8, 2023, a decision was made to conclude the Declaration of Public Health Emergency, thereby ending the official status of the emergency.
The statement said, “The allocation of resources and funding from the local government was solely aimed at mounting an effective response to contain the outbreak, provide medical care, and prevent further spread. During this period, the DOH made diligent efforts to seek financial support from the Department of Interior to aid our response. However, we were unable to secure the desired funding during that time frame.”
DOH assures the public that the American Samoa Department of Health operates with the utmost transparency, integrity, and adherence to rigorous protocols. “The lessons learned from this experience have significantly enhanced our capabilities to identify and respond to measles outbreaks and other communicable disease outbreaks in the future.”
