ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, May 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A cruise ship
owned by the Church of Scientology has been quarantined in Saint Lucia for
two days because of a measles case, health authorities on the Caribbean
island said Thursday.
The vessel was Thursday docked at the Point Seraphine terminal in the port
of the capital Castries, according to an AFP photographer. One man was
spotted on board.
Resurgence of the once-eradicated, highly-contagious disease is linked to
the growing anti-vaccine movement in richer nations, which the World Health
Organization (WHO) has identified as a major global health threat.
“Given the highly infectious nature of measles, along with the possibility
that other persons onboard the vessel may have been in contact with and are
now possibly infectious due to this disease, a decision was made not to allow
persons to disembark,” said Merlene Fredericks-James, the island’s chief
medical officer.
She added that the infected patient was a female crew member and that the
ship was the Freewinds — a 440-foot (134-meter) vessel the Church of
Scientology says is used for religious retreats and is normally based in
Curacao.
The ship asked for 100 doses of measles vaccine, which Saint Lucia
authorities are providing at no cost, with the patient under observation.
The church, founded by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1953, did
not respond to requests for comment.
Its teachings do not directly oppose vaccination, but followers consider
illness a sign of personal failing and generally eschew medical
interventions.
Tony Ortega, who runs a blog about the group, told AFP: “When a
Scientologist gets a cold, they would be asked to write an essay about who
they think that is against the church that is making them sick.
“They would definitely be interrogating that person and they would punish
that person because when you’re sick like that, in Scientology, it’s always
your own fault.”
The Church of Scientology has various levels its members can attain that
become more expensive as they progress.
According to Ortega, the Freewinds was launched by the church in 1988 for
the highest level members can reach, known as “OT VIII” or “Operating Thetan
Level 8.”
An estimated 169 million children worldwide missed out on the vital first
dose of the measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017, according to a UNICEF
report issued last month.
There were four times as many measles cases in the first quarter of this
year as in the corresponding period in 2018.
According to the last statement issued by the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) on April 18, only one Caribbean country, The Bahamas, has
had a case of measles in 2019, a four-year-old child who had come from
France.