Indian programmer blamed for measles outbreak in Boston

WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian software programmer is at the centre of a Robin Cook novel-like scenario in Boston, where a measles outbreak has led to authorities distributing 23,000 doses of vaccine costing $400,000 (Rs1.8 crore) across the city.

They have also ordered hundreds of people working in three buildings, including the city’s tallest skyscraper where the programmer went to work, to stay home until they can prove they are not susceptible to the disease.

The programmer, whose name has not been made public, flew in from India on April 26, and began showing symptoms of measles —cough, fever and rash — on May 5. The disease soon spread to six more persons in the same building.

Health authorities branded the outbreak, Massachusetts’ first since 1999, as “potentially lethal”. Boston is the setting for most of Robin Cook’s medical thrillers such as Coma and Fatal Cure. The 1995 hit movie Outbreak featured a Boston man who spreads a mysterious disease brought in from Africa.

Authorities are concerned over the possibility that the programmer had not been vaccinated. According to a World Health Organisation report published in 2004, only 56 per cent of Indian children are vaccinated against measles.