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Contagious Disease Grips Little Britain

Measles is taking over Gibraltar, that little slice of Britain dangling off the coast of Spain. In the past three months, close to one percent of the enclave's 28,000 residents has come down with the viral infection, which is incredibly contagious even outside of one of the world's most densely populated territories.

Public health officials thought that more than 90 percent of Gibraltar's population was vaccinated, but the latest outbreak--the first in 10 years--casts doubt on that assumption. (A discredited medical journal article from 1998, which reported that the vaccine could cause autism, still has some Britons skipping inoculations.)

This latest outbreak of measles, though, seems to be motivating people: The New York Times says a recent vaccination campaign was so popular it ran out of medicine twice, thanks to shortages in Britain.

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· Gibraltar Suffers Fast-Spreading Measles Outbreak [NYT]
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· Dangerous Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jonrawlinson]