Rubella virus officially eliminated from the Americas

The disease joins the ranks of polio and smallpox It’s official: rubella, a disease that can be deadly for fetuses, has been eliminated from the Americas. The news was announced today by a scientific panel convened by global health authorities, reports The New York Times. The Americas is the first World Health Organization region to eliminate the disease. Sometimes referred to as the German measles, rubella is a contagious viral infection that is best known for causing a red rash and a fever. Its effects can be far more destructive, however. In 1964 and 1965, an epidemic in the US resulted in 12.5 million cases of rubella. During that time, approximately 20,000 fetuses were born with rubella-associated defects. Another 11,000 fetuses were miscarried or aborted. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then; the last known case of rubella in the Americas was confirmed in 2009, in Argentina. Diseases have been eliminated from the...