The Big Event

In this blog entry, I will talk about what occurred that eventually led to this controversy in the first place.  Unfortunately, this entry will be taking place in the happiest place on Earth, but this story won't be filled with too many happy endings.

     So it is a small world after all.  In December of 2014, amongst the laughter and the crying and the classic Disney music, about 40 people became infected with measles and they wouldn't know until it was too late.  After hugging all the favorite Disney Princesses and riding the magical rides, the germs were bound to be spread at some point.  It all started after the week of December 15, 2014.  That was when cases of measles in the once happy Disneyland visitors were being reported and were being linked to their trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth".  It didn't help anyone's chances of becoming infected, knowing in retrospect that only 16% of those who did become infected had been vaccinated with the measles vaccine.  That leaves a whopping 82% of the people did not get immunized.  On January 7th, 2015, Disneyland was informed of this outbreak and immediately informed the cast who all had to get tested for measles.  The five cast members who had tested positive were immediately sent home and paid to remain on leave until no longer contagious.  

Javier, Loren.  "Mickey & Friends perform with the Disneyland
band in front of sleeping beauty castle".
 09/06/09 via Flicker. Creative Commons
No Derivs Generic License.  

     It was inevitable for not one person who was in Disneyland for that week in December to not have gotten measles.  Since it is an airborne sickness, the one contagious person could have easily spread the germs through simply walking through Toon Town, or buying a large, fresh, cinnamon churro.  At least some of the cast members were also bound to get sick, especially those that were not vaccinated because every kid wants to hug their favorite Disney character with snot running down their nose, having just touched every hand railing and having picked their nose.
    With this outbreak in Disneyland, people started to get more worried about vaccinations and how easily the diseases are spread once they are out in the air, floating around.  So, Disneyland has brought the whole state of California into a controversy, where they can argue about vaccinations while humming "It's A Small World" in the back of their minds.