Tasnim Zara demands emergency plan to contain measles outbreak

Physician and politician Dr Tasnim Zara has called for a comprehensive national response plan to contain the ongoing measles outbreak, warning that weak coordination, uneven vaccination coverage and administrative delays are allowing the disease to spread rapidly.

In a Facebook post on Friday morning, she outlined a series of urgent measures, including surveillance strengthening, contact tracing, ring vaccination, dedicated treatment centres and real-time monitoring systems to manage cases more effectively.

She described measles as an extremely contagious disease, noting that one infected person can transmit it to 12-18 others. She also warned that the virus can remain airborne for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area.

Dr Zara stressed that at least 95 percent vaccination coverage is needed for herd immunity, but said national averages often hide dangerous gaps in specific regions such as urban slums, remote upazilas and hilly areas.

She proposed the creation of a national measles hotline linked with telemedicine services, where parents could report symptoms such as fever, cough, red eyes and rashes. Doctors would then assess cases and direct patients to designated treatment centres to reduce further transmission.

She said data from the hotline should feed into a central dashboard to help authorities identify outbreak zones quickly and respond at the local level.

Dr Zara also recommended immediate contact tracing and ring vaccination in affected areas to contain infection chains by building a "protective ring" around outbreaks.