JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A measles case in Duval County from three weeks ago was confirmed by the health department, but it wasn’t immediately made known to the public.
The Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen, former director of Duval County Health Department, said the public and doctors should have been made aware of this case.
Dr. Goldhagen said many medical professionals found out about the local case because they talk among each other, not because they received a message from the local health department or state.
In an email, Jacksonville Chief Health officer Dr. Sunil Joshi confirmed the case of local measles was found in a 22-year-old. He also said to direct any further questions to the Florida Department of Health-Duval.
News4JAX reached out to the department, asking why this information wasn’t shared with the community and if this was a policy decision. It responded saying:
The mission of the Florida Department of Health is to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through coordinated efforts at the state, county, and community levels. When a communicable disease is reported in our county, our team immediately initiates an epidemiological investigation to protect the public’s health.
We follow the Guidance to Surveillance and Investigations (GSI) which provides step-by-step guidance for the epidemiologists. Generally, the sequence of steps is as follows:
In response to the recent measles diagnosis, DOH-Duval acted swiftly and followed established protocols. As a result, the risk of community transmission remains low.
Chanel LeBlanc, Public Health Communications Manager, Florida Department of Health in Duval County
Dr. Goldhagen, said more should have been done even if the risk of transmission was low.
“It is a fundamental role and responsibility of health departments, in particular, local health departments, to notify the community as to what the issues are, notify the community as to how it needs to protect itself, and then work with local physicians and organizations to ensure that the education and communication gets out to the whole, whole community,“ he said.
Goldhagen said he believes the decision to not alert the community comes from the state level and not the local level.
News4JAX reached out to the state asking about the case and why the public wasn’t alerted and is waiting to hear back.